


Love Comes in all Sizes

by Amazionion



Category: Original Work, The Borrowers - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Injury, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Mentions of violence/character death but it's pretty vague, Mild Blood, Other, Polyamory, Swearing, giant tiny - Freeform, lgbtq character(s), male giant, male tinies, mostly its just two (eventually three) guys falling in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 37,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22589839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amazionion/pseuds/Amazionion
Summary: Michael was thrown out of his borrowing colony because of who he loved, and he ended up going to the one place that he didn't want to go to, an apartment full of traps and poison. The human living there was massive, and dangerous. But, he ended up finding a little more there than food to fill his belly.(Content warning before each chapter)
Relationships: Original Character(s)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 108
Kudos: 107





	1. 1st Meet

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Swearing, tiny in a humane trap, fear, mentions of injuries or death.

Michael had just wanted to get some food. He had just been trying to get at the remains of the human’s lunch. He was nursing multiple injuries, and he was starving and tired, but he didn’t see the fucking glue trap.

He tried to remove his feet, stopped when he came close to toppling over, and he shouted in frustration. The human would be home soon and he was stuck, out in the open, no way to escape. He should have seen the stupid glue trap and then he wouldn’t be stuck and about to be found and killed.

There was a reason that the village avoided this apartment like there were rabid mice in here. The human, when moving in, had sprayed the whole place with bug spray and set up a ton of traps - lethal and non - because he “didn’t want rats in his stuff.” It wasn’t safe to be in there, but Michael was desperate.

When you were by yourself and unable to go anywhere else there was no time or place to be picky.

At least he had been caught in the glue trap instead of one of the mouse or rat traps that would have broken bones or snapped his neck. He was just stuck, not dead. He glared over at the crumbs that had resided on the paper plate, tantalizingly close by.

“This is all _your_ fault.” He hissed.

He had tried to maybe get his foot out of his shoe when the front door opened and slammed shut. His blood turned to ice and his heart jumped into his throat. All he could do is tremble as he watched the human come into the kitchen and set things down on the counter and start unpacking the grocery bags.

Michael was so dead.

This human was one of the biggest the building had ever seen. Well over six foot in height, with muscles to show off the fact that he was strong. Long, black hair done in dreads, dark brown skin, and so dark brown they were practically black eyes.

His head turned towards Michael and they both froze. Michael had his heart pounding in his throat, and he was sure it would explode out of him soon enough.

“No way.” And the next thing Michael knew, there were hands on him.

—

Jackie had just gotten back from a grocery run with all of two dollars eighty cents left in his wallet. Thankfully the groceries would last him until the next check from his sister. So he’d be okay even with the extra money he had to spend on traps earlier that month.

He had been unpacking when he remembered his bait. He quickly glanced over his shoulder and saw something stuck in the glue trap. He whipped around to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, and sure enough, there was tiny little person stuck in the trap.

He looked barely three inches tall. Brown skin, short brown hair, and shabby clothes. A tiny little bag slung across tiny little shoulders.

“No way.” He reached out and curled his fingers around the back of the little creature, making sure it won’t fall over into the sticky glue. “A Little Bit.”

It flinched away from his voice, making him feel kind of bad, but the guilt was flushed away from the excitement of finding something that was definitely not a mouse or a rat. It was a Little Bit, like what his sister told him when he was younger. He’d roped his little cousin and his friends into the idea of finding one, and they’d spent a few summers searching or setting traps, but as they grew older they grew out of it, thinking they were just stories.

The little creature against his palm proved otherwise.

“Don’t worry little buddy, I’m going to get you out of there.” He gave the little creature a soft smile before pulling his hands away. It flailed, but regained its balance.

He paused, one hand over his phone, then shook his head. Get it free, pics for Hector, then let it go. He grabbed the vegetable oil and a handful of q-tips. As soon as he’d bought the glue traps he came prepared for the scenario that they would actually catch something.

“Juuust stay still, okay?” He poured a little oil in the cap and soaked a q-tip in it, then, with one hand around the little creature’s torso, started to rub it against the sticky area around its feet to get it unstuck.

He had to shift his grip to make sure he wasn’t suffocating it and to pull it away easier, going to pinch its torso between two fingers, and it shouted, making him move both hands quickly away. Its little arms clutched at its sides as it sobbed very human sounding sobs.

_Shit, I broke it- him. I broke him._

He lowered his head down to the counter, trying to get a better view in case he did just accidentally crush him. “Did I hurt you?”

“S-stay away from me!” He hiccupped, wincing with pain. “Just leave me alone!”

“Woah, woah, easy there little buddy.” Jackie held his hands in surrender. “I’m trying to get you out of there.”

“I don’t want your help!”

He bit his lip. “I was just trying to get you out of there. I-I’ll let you go on your way as soon as you’re unstuck.”

He stood there for a few minutes more, slowly calming himself down, trying to dry his eyes, but shivering any time he looked over at Jackie. He knew that he was big and scary and he needed to give the little guy some space, but it hurt him inside. It wasn’t his nature to not let someone go uncomforted, and this little guy was mini. He needed a hug.

But it was hard to comfort someone when you were their source of distress.

Soon he wasn’t crying, but he wasn’t exactly calm. Jackie cleared his throat, and he flinched. “May I help you out of the trap?”

He straightened and shook his head. “You’ll just stuff me in a cage after. I’d rather die here.”

“No need to be overdramatic, little buddy.” Jackie was playing with a clean q-tip between his fingers. “I’m not going to stuff anybody into a cage. You’re a person, not a pet.”

The little man shuddered, folding in on himself, then after a long moment, spoke in the softest of voices. “You may unstick me.”

“Thank you.” He got a fresh q-tip, dipped it in oil, and continued to work, holding a hand behind his back to keep him from falling from leaning away from his intrusion. “I’m going to try and pick you up and see if it’ll come off. Is there anywhere I shouldn’t touch?”

“My ribs.” He warily eyed the hand around him. “And my neck.”

“Here, is this okay?” He wrapped a few fingers around his legs, holding as tight as he dared - which wasn’t very tight at all – from the hips to his calves was trapped in a few fingers.

He nodded, both hands braced against his ring finger.

With a little nudging with an oil soaked q-tip and a little pulling, the Little Bit was freed and now safely in his hand above the counter. “Did that hurt?”

He shook his head.

“Good.” He set his feet on the counter well away from the trap, which he promptly threw in the garbage. “So, uhm, little buddy, what were you doing up on the counter in the first place?”

He looked away, taking a shuffling step back, leaving a little droplet of oil on the counter where he’d been standing. “I was, uhm, I was just trying to get some food.” He swallowed nervously. “I didn’t see the trap until I nearly toppled over in it.”

“Oh, right.” Of course. They were scavengers, living off of scraps and things that wouldn’t be missed. “Uh, do you want anything better than crumbs? I could fix you something really quick.”

“N-no thank you.” He shuffled his feet. “I’m good with the - with the crumbs.”

“Well, if you ever want any food at all, just come find me and I’ll give you a hot meal, I promise.” 

“I-I’ll keep it in mind.” He stuffed the crumbs into his little bag he had over his shoulder and then, with a few wary glances up towards Jackie, vanished into the walls through a pretty sizable crack in the tiles on the back splash.

Jackie made a mental note to patch it up, then, seeing as it was an entry point for the little guy, immediately threw out that mental note. He’d leave it open.

And he’d make sure to leave out some food for the little guy.


	2. Michael's Perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: fear, nausea, mentions of being killed, depressive mental spiral, slight injury but nothing crazy,

Enormous hands cupped around his body, the human’s palm against his back, and a knuckle on his other gigantic hand pushing into his thin middle to make sure he was pinned.

He had to keep swallowing bile. It was generally considered bad manners to puke all over someone else’s hands, and the last thing he wanted was to make the human angry.

His voice rumbled overhead like thunder, and Michael slammed his eyes shut and took a few shaky breaths to make sure that he wasn’t dead just yet.

“Don’t worry little buddy, I’m going to get you out of there.” Suddenly both his hands vanished and Michael had to struggle to keep his balance.

His eyes flew open, and he saw the human staring down at him, one of his massive hands holding the edges of his thick phone case. Michael swallowed nervously. He didn’t want his picture all over the internet, making all his kind vulnerable because he was stupid and hungry and desperate.

The human suddenly left the room, probably to get another camera, or a cage, or anything. Michael frantically tugged at his shoes to get them unstuck. He would abandon them if it meant he wouldn’t be captured and killed.

After an agonizingly long minute, the human was back with a fistful of q-tips and he grabbed the big bottle of cooking oil from the cabinets.

 _Don’t eat me!_ His mind screeched for a second before the human poured a cap full of the oil and then dipped the q-tip in.

“Juuust stay still, okay?” And suddenly the hand was back. It completely enveloped his torso, it was like his hands which he’d thrown out for defense were nothing more than air for how little good they did. He tried to twist, with no avail. His feet were stuck to the stupid glue trap he had stepped in and his torso was trapped in too thick skin, arms pressed into him.

Tears sprung forward as his mind supplied the lovely vision of him being squeezed tighter and tighter until he was just a bloody mess in the human’s palm. He couldn’t take a breath in when suddenly the hand vanished.

He didn’t have a second’s reprieve before he was actually being squeezed between two fingers bigger than his entire body.

His ears registered someone screaming as spots of blinding light and darkness swirled before him. The pressure on his bruised ribs vanished and he took a gasping breath, cut short by a grunt of pain and tears coming forward.

“Did I hurt you?”

The human had his head down on the counter, and Michael could see his reflection in those big, black eyes that were larger than his head. Fingers were moving back towards him and he found his voice very suddenly.

“S-stay away from me!” His breath hitched, and he clutched his ribs in pain. “Just leave me alone!”

“Woah, woah, easy there little buddy.” The human held his hands up and Michael flinched away. “I’m trying to get you out of there.”

“I don’t want your help!” Michael shouted, and then he instantly regretted it.

What was he _doing?_ He was yelling at a _human._ He was right there and huge and Michael was ridiculously tiny and not to mention stuck in a fucking trap. He didn’t want to be crushed.

Tears had sprung forward, he was holding himself with one arm and crouched slightly, scrubbing his face with his other sleeve, just trying to stop looking so fucking pathetic in front of this enormous human. Michael was already injured, and, as the human had proved moments earlier, he could so easily exploit that.

He looked so pathetic. He felt so pathetic. He was so pathetic.

Hopefully his death would be quick.

After he’d started to come to term with his situation, one where he was at the complete mercy of a human, he looked up at the human with no more tears rushing forward.

“May I help you out of the trap?”

God, his voice was so loud and rumbling.

Michael shook his head. “You’ll just stuff me in a cage after. I’d rather die here.”

What was he doing? He was stuck here otherwise.

“No need to be overdramatic, little buddy.” The human was twirling one of the q-tips between his fingers. He had a sudden, horrifying image of being fiddled with by the human. “I’m not going to stuff anybody into a cage. You’re a person, not a pet.”

He wanted to trust this human, he did. But he was just so…. _big._

And someone so big didn’t need to ask permission. He was _asking permission._ Humans didn’t need to do that. Maybe he wasn’t going to hurt him.

“Y-you may unstick me.”

“Thank you.” A hand curled around his back, and with how there was the oil-coated edge of a q-tip nudging at his boots and the trap around his boots, he had leaned a bit back and had his back against his other palm.

It was warm against his back, and the skin had very little give, calloused and rough from work.

After a little while of awkward silence, the human spoke again. “I’m going to try and pick you up and see if it’ll come off. Is there anywhere I shouldn’t touch?“

Michael swallowed carefully, then he looked down at himself. "My ribs… and my neck.” His entire body could be concealed in his enormous palm. It was bigger than his whole bed… and then some.

“Here.” Two fingers wrapped around his legs, immobilizing hid body from the waist down. “Is this okay?”

Michael braced both hands against the finger around his hips, nodding.

He was gently lifted up into the air. Michael twitched his feet a little, glad he could now, but it still wasn’t a favorable position, trapped in the air, stuck in a fist.

“Did that hurt?”

Michael shook his head.

“Good.” And he was set back down on the counter. He nearly fell over at suddenly being responsible for his own balance. And his shoes were a little uncooperative, either sticky or slippery as they were.

He flinched at a loud crunching noise. Michael’s eyes widened drastically as he saw the human take the trap up in his hands, break the sides as he folded it in half, and throw it into the garbage along with the q-tips.

“So, uhm, little buddy.” He leaned on the counter, propping his head up on his arm. “What were you doing up on the counter in the first place?”

Michael avoided eye contact, shuffling back a little. “I was, uh, I was just trying to get some food.” His shirt collar felt tight, so he tugged on it and swallowed. “I didn’t see the trap until I nearly fell in it.”

“Oh, right.” The human grabbed the edge of that plate that held the remains of food that had gotten Michael into this predicament and placed it right in front of him. “Uh, do you want anything better than crumbs? I could fix you something really quick.”

“N-no thank you.” He shuffled his feet as he reached over the edge and grabbed a few handfuls of crumbs. “I’m good with the- with the crumbs.” He didn’t want this entire trip to be for nothing. He had literally nothing left in his house, and he’d gone all yesterday with nothing to eat.

“Well, if you ever want any food at all, just come find me and I’ll give you a hot meal, I promise.” 

That sounded really nice, but it also sounded like a huge trap. An excuse to grab him or stick him in a cage or jar or something.

“I-I’ll keep it in mind.” He stuffed the crumbs into his bag and then, keeping a careful eye on the human, dashed back into the counter entrance. The moment he was out of sight he fell to his hands and knees and felt his ribs for any more damage than had already been done.

Thankfully, there was nothing for him to find that was broken or deeper bruised.

He thanked whatever God or Gods might be out there, and then he got to his feet and slowly, carefully made his way home.


	3. Inner Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Briefly mentioned violence against an LGBT+ Individual, brief description of wounds

Michael had trudged into his house and he had nearly collapsed after he had made it back in one piece. His heart was pounding as he fell onto a stool, some discarded champagne cork he had to be careful sitting on or it’d tip over. He placed his bag on the table and he started to sort through the crumbs he had grabbed before dashing out of there.

Hardly enough for a single meal.

He groaned loudly and let his head thump against the table. He would need to go back out tomorrow after just getting caught by a human, held by a human, and squeezed.

“But I don’t think he meant to.” Michael whispered to himself and he separated the meager find into two sections, one for tonight, and one for tomorrow. “If I hadn’t been hurt…… it wouldn’t have hurt if my ribs weren’t bruised.”

He placed the crumbs in the pantry and he sighed deeply, pulling the curtain shut over it. He didn’t want to go out tomorrow, he wanted to hide in his bed and wait for all the pain to stop.

But he couldn’t. He needed to continue to eat, to survive. He would need to go out and try and scavenge more crumbs after the human left for school. If he even went to school tomorrow, Michael had yet to grasp his patterns.

He placed his bag down next to his coiled climbing rope. There was dim light coming through a crack in the ceiling, and while the light was on, he tried to salvage his boots. On the undersides, there was a layer of glue near the heels that now had a thick layer of dust stuck to them. Near the toes and all over the top of his shoes was the cooking oil the human had used to unstick him. He wiped what he could off with a rag, and then used the soaked rag to try and get the glue off his heels.

He was just glad that he hadn’t fallen. His whole body would be covered with the stuff then.

With the limited success of saving his shoes – there was still a little glue and dust on his heels and a gross feeling residue over the outside of the rest of his shoes - he went to bed. It was a small foam block and whatever spare fabric he had that he wasn’t wearing.

Sleep didn’t want to come to him.

—

Jackie laid in his bed after he had eaten a little dinner and did whatever homework he had the energy to do. He was staring at the ceiling and thinking of the Little Bit.

Mostly he was plagued with guilt and ‘what if’ scenarios.

He’d _trapped_ an innocent little guy with a glue trap meant for rats. He felt like a monster.

_‘At least it was a glue trap and not one of the other ones.’_

It was all too easy to imagine coming home and checking his traps and finding the little guy dead in one of the other traps. If not dead, then with broken bones.

Speaking of, that scream when he had pinches his sides. It still haunted him. He had seemed mostly okay afterwards, but he had felt so bad when the little guy had screamed. He had caused him pain.

All he could do is hope that he hadn’t broken anything.

The Little Bit must have been the most fragile thing that he had handled in a long time. Their little bones must have been so thin. More fragile than glass. He hardly trusted himself with holding anything glass or anything quite thin, ever since he’d finished puberty anyway.

Jackie knew he was big. He’d never denied it. But seeing an entire person easily fit in the palm of his hand had thrown him for a loop he had never expected. He kept glancing back at his hands in the dark bedroom, the phantom sensation of the Little Bit laying in his palm prevalent.

He really wanted to hold the Little Bit again. The slight weight in his palm, the tiny little heartbeat against his fingers. It’d been everything that he had thought about when he was younger and had been told stories by his older sister.

Of course, he had to go and screw up his first meeting with the tiny man by catching him in a _glue trap._

God, he was stupid.

He was going to throw out all of the traps first thing tomorrow.

Jackie turned onto his side and flipped his pillow over to the cool side. First thing tomorrow, getting rid of _all_ of the traps, not just the glue ones, not just the snap traps. All of them.

After a few minutes of more tossing and turning, he stood up and sighed. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep with the idea that he’d catch another Little Bit in one of the traps.

—

Michael had been huddled down in his bed when the ceiling above him creaked ominously, and his breath hitched.

Why was the human up? Was he going to look for him?

The human was walking all over the apartment, making constant trips to the kitchen. Michael sighed and snuggled deeper into his blankets the best he could. He was probably getting a snack or something. Not trying to pry up the floorboards or tear into the walls.

His mind wandered to the parting words from the human. The offer of a hot meal. But it came at the cost of potentially putting himself in the human’s hands again. He didn’t want to do that. It had been terrifying enough to do it once, and it was defiantly something he didn’t want to do again.

He rolled onto his back, blinking at the idea of meeting the human again.

It would be a lot easier to live like that, taking handouts. He currently had to scavenge for scraps, even from those who had until recently been his friends and family. Taking from them when they were out until he had all his things and ransacking abandoned houses.

His ribs flared up at the reminder of his old colony.

They were many families that had all congregated in one place, under the floors in one apartment that the land lord never was quite able to keep a tenant in because it was ‘haunted.’ They would borrow from all over the building and split it up among the families as needed.

Michael had been forcefully evicted from the colony after he’d been caught with his lover. Another man. Ash. Michael’s father, one of the leaders of the colony, had been less than pleased. Ash’s parents stepped up to protect their son, but they couldn’t do anything more else they risked the rest of their family being thrown out as well.

He didn’t blame them for wanting to protect themselves. They had small children, and his father wasn’t exactly able to go scavenging anymore.

And Michael’s bruises were a reminder of what they did to those who were different. Multiple adults beating on him, dragging him out in the middle of the houses, tearing his clothes, kicking him in the ribs, the stomach, pulling his hair.

He shuddered at the reminders, hugging himself without agitating his bruises again.

He’d never put Ash through that.

Never.

“Yow!” The human above him shouted, and there was a loud thud.

Michael stifled a giggle, rubbing his eyes, glad that his black eye had healed up finally so he didn’t have to be careful about scrubbing his face.

If only his ribs could heal that quickly.

—

Jackie tossed the mouse trap in the garbage, shaking his finger. It had hurt when it had snapped shut on his finger, but nothing concerning.

It had been the last of the traps.

He crawled back into bed, exhausted. Now his apartment was safe again and he could sleep without being plagued with visions of other Little Bits stuck in his traps.

He hoped to see the little guy again, as much as he knew he’d scared him completely off.


	4. Escapades in the Kitchen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Swearing, brief mentions of traps/poison, fear

Michael had waited until the human had left, presumably for school, for him to come out of the house. He’d already eaten the remains of his last second grabs yesterday and was climbing carefully up into the bookshelf in the living room to see if there was anything in plain sight for him to grab.

He looked around the living room from the middle shelf on the bookshelf, just barely squeezing past the items crammed on the shelf, because of course the shelf closest to the human’s eye level was the only shelf with wall access.

Nothing so far, so he squeezed between what looked like a couple textbooks back into the walls, heading back to the counter.

It felt almost cursed as he stood right behind the entrance. He felt like there’d be another glue trap right outside the hole, or a tripwire that would make a cup slam down around him, or poison, or something.

He took a deep breath and stepped out, nothing, and he could, in fact, move his feet.

After a second where he soaked in the relief he went into scavenging mode, looking for food. After a moment on the clean counter tops, he noticed a little container with the lid half popped off sitting near the edge. He cautiously approached, wary of traps.

Ignoring the sticky note on top, he tugged at the loosely on lid and pulled it open. Inside were an assortment of things, all perfect for him. More than his body weight in trail mix, and one of those chocolate chip cookies he knew that the human made.

“Jackpot.” He reached in and grabbed a few raisins, peanuts, a seed or two, and even one of the delicious looking M&Ms, placing the brightly colored candy on the top. He positioned the lid back into place and he looked over the note to see what the human had left for himself.

Scrawled out across the top in the human’s large, blocky handwriting were the words, “ **Take as much as you want.** ”

Michael glanced down at his bag, suddenly incredibly heavy. This was stuff he was setting out for him. The human had put out bait and he had just taken a whole bag full.

He shoved the lid open again and yanked his bag open. He wasn’t going to leave a trace of his presence here if he could help it. He pulled out the M&M to throw it back in and forget about it. He hesitated, looking at how much food was still in the container. Evidence of his theft was very visible to him, but maybe the human wouldn’t miss anything.

It had been a little bit by comparison… not even a mouthful. He might not actually notice anything missing. It’s not like he took the entire cookie or even a crumb off it. Humans had so much food available to them, and Michael had no idea how much more food he would be able to find today, if any at all.

He stuffed the M&M back into his bag and he struggled to get the lid back into place.

He was looking around to see if there was any other kind of bait the human had set out when the door to the apartment opened. Michael took off running for cover.

\---

Jackie threw his bag into his chair and he muttered frustratingly to himself. “Damn professor, fucking drunk.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and then threw his jacket on top of his bag. His professor had canceled class that day because they had showed up to work very hungover and were not in the mood to teach. So, they canceled class and everyone went home.

His next class wasn’t for a few more hours so he had decided to go back to his apartment. Better than bumming around on campus.

He needed to go walking more anyway.

He grabbed a soda from the fridge and paused when he saw the lid on the container he’d left out for the Little Bit was askew.

He grinned and nudged the lid off the rest of the way. He didn’t know what he expected. The guy was so tiny, his stomach couldn’t be any bigger than a bean. He obviously couldn’t have taken all of it.

It just looked pretty much just the way he left it.

Didn’t even touch the cookie.

He shrugged and shoved the container towards the back of the counter and he started fixing a sandwich for him to have later.

As he fixed the sandwich, his mind wandered. Hopefully the little guy was doing okay, wherever he was. It must be so hard to be so little in this world. Jackie had a lot going against him because he looked like a punk to a lot of people, but this little guy had everything going wrong for him.

It wasn’t natural to be so little.

Jackie had glanced down at his hand, then shook his head and went back to his sandwich. He always felt big after the brunt of puberty and the summer and fall he’d shot up several clothing sizes, but he’d never felt quite as monstrous as he did when he’d seen and held the Little Bit.

He needed to learn the little guy’s name. It felt weird to just call him ‘The Little Bit.’ He grabbed a torn piece of paper and his pencil.

\---

Michael was sitting on the inside of the wall, head on his knees as the human did whatever he was doing outside on the counter. The human had come home way too early, and he had, of course, hung out in the kitchen.

Why this human?

Why Michael?

What did the universe have against him?

He was just a tiny little guy trying to survive in a world meant for humans.

His mental spiral was broken with a quickly muffled squeal when suddenly a rolled up strip of paper was shoved into the crack in the wall, less than an inch to his right. His heart was just behind his hands clamped over his mouth, pounding wildly. He didn’t trust himself to breathe as he scooted away from the rolled up piece of paper.

Michael vowed to never, ever use this entrance again. The human knew about it and he was going to lure him out and he was going to lay traps or poison over the entrance.

Then the world fell still again, Michael up against the other wall. He slowly uncovered his mouth and took a shaky, hitched breath.

He scooted over to the paper and unrolled it a little. More of the human’s blocky handwriting.

**“Do you have a name?”**

Michael felt offended at the mention of the idea that he doesn’t have a name.

Who did this human think he was? Of course he had a name.

He rolled it back up and kicked it back through the entrance, then froze the second it left the walls.

Why was he _such a mess?_

“Hello?” The human’s voice rumbled outside the wall, and Michael saw a shadow fall over the entrance. “Are you there, little buddy?”

Michael turned and dashed towards his home, lest the human decide to start tearing into the back splash to claim his prize. He was not about to put himself back in those hands.

\---

Jackie let his other hand rest against the wall as he inspected the note. It was just the same as it had been when he placed the question inside the wall.

Damn.

He must have scared the little guy off.

But hey, at least that was a little progress.


	5. Spiders, I Hate Spiders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Spider, killing of a spider, tiny nearly being stepped on, fear, very brief mental mentions of Tinies being kept as pets

Michael had just been trying to see if he could grab any of the paper clips he had seen the human drop. That’s all he had been trying to do. It wasn’t his fault the couch was the only decent cover that was available.

And it was _certainly_ not _his_ fault that a spider had taken up residence under there.

He’d been trying to hide from the human that was sitting on the couch above him. The bottom of the couch had bowed a little from time and the weight of the human sitting on it, making him a little nervous about being under there. Being crushed by the couch breaking was not on the list of ways he wanted to go.

But then again, neither did being eaten by a spider make the list.

Or being eaten by _any_ animal really.

It terrified him.

He’d just been waiting patiently under the couch, two nice new paper clips sticking out of his bag, quietly munching on a raisin.

For the dangers of potentially being crushed, he much preferred under the couch as opposed to the end table right beside it. The end table legs were high and open. All it’d take is the remote to fall or anything to fall that the human was looking for and he’d be discovered.

The couch was low, dark, covered in dust, and safe.

But…. He didn’t know about the spider until it was nearly on him.

He saw a moving wad of dust, and upon closer inspection, he saw it was a dust ball on top of a spider.

He dashed to the edge of the couch and paused, just out of the light, just in case it wasn’t actually moving towards him.

It was. And it scurried towards him faster after he moved.

He took a deep breath and he sprinted out from under the couch, not looking back at the spider or up at the human, even though he was just a little bit away when he’d made a very startled noise. 

He squealed and fell to the ground when a bare foot larger than his bedroom crashed down inches away from him. He curled up and grabbed his ribs, gasping in pain. A paper towel swooped down and gathered up the spider, and the human’s other hand dropped down and gathered Michael up against his palm.

He was completely wrapped up in the human’s palm. Thick, calloused fingers not even allowing a little light between them. It was swelteringly hot, curled up around himself.

His stomach had been left in the floor, and he swallowed a bit of bile as the human moved. Long steps thudding away entire feet below where Michael hung in the air, swaying the entire hand as he was moved to God knew where.

His mind chose to torment the little man about what could happen to him. He could be stuffed in a jar or a cage or into some other kind of container. The human has asked if he had a name. What if he took his refusal to answer the question as ‘No?’

Would he then name Michael himself? Like some kind of pet?

His mind clung to the idea of him becoming a pet and ran with it. He was seeing cages and collars and being petted and prodded at like some kind of rodent when light cracked through the fingers and he was suddenly on his back.

The human was staring at him, startlingly white teeth playing with his lip. “A-are you okay? I’ve not… are you hurt?”

Michael sat up, staring straight up at the enormous human. He was level with his abdomen, and the side of the huge palm was up against his shirt, bright red with some kind of logo on it.

Michael slowly shook his head, mouth incredibly dry, heart beating in his throat, choking him.

“Good.” He was raised up and up to eye level. “Did it bite you?”

He shook his head again, heart crawling a little higher up his throat.

A relieved smile spread across his far too close for comfort mouth. “Good. I was worried there, little buddy. You were so still… I was worried I’d been too late in saving you.”

“S-saving me?” He squeaked.

That smile quickly faded, and then the hand he was on lowered to the table, tilting a little and he was sliding off, landing on his butt, leaned back on his hands. “I’ll be right back, please don’t run off yet.”

Michael looked around the table, swallowing his heart a little as the human crushed a tight ball of paper towel between his palms and threw it in the full garbage can. There was an open text book, two notebooks open, three or so pencils -one of which was snapped in half- and a half eaten plate of food.

The human himself was wearing sweat pants and the red shirt. His hair looked the same as ever.

He sat down in the chair at one end of the table, resting his chin on his arms. “So, uhm….. I didn’t mean to scare you… earlier.” He put his face on his arm for a second, shoulders bunching up with a heavy sigh. “What I mean is…. I’m sorry.”

Michael looked at the human for a long moment, too stunned to talk. He looked guilty, and he looked almost… sad.

The human continued, head down. “I know I’m big – believe me, I know I’m big- a-and you’re tiny, and I should have been a little more diplomatic about getting you out of that trap, and then I put out food which looked like bait and I scared the hell out of you by shoving a note in your hole and then I just grabbed you up. I – I know I’m stupid and clumsy and I scared the hell out of you-but…. I don’t want to…. I’m really sorry…. You can go now if you want to.”

Michael’s heart had finally settled back in his chest, watching the human ramble. He pushed himself off his hands so he was sitting a little straighter. “Michael.”

“Huh?” The human lifted his head.

“M-Michael.” He cleared his throat. “My name is Michael. You asked what my name was earlier, and, well, it’s Michael.”

He smiled a little, then he dropped the smile. “My name is Jackson, but everyone calls me Jackie.”

Michael stood up, brushing off, then he stuck his hand out. “Pleasure to meet you.”

—

Jackie’s eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up. The Lit- Michael wanted to shake his hand. He uncrossed his arms, freeing up one of his arms, and slowly, carefully closed the gap.

He had his whole hand extended, then corrected his mistake, extending two fingers. With the most grace he had used in too long a time to remember, he pinched that absolutely minuscule hand between the pad of his index finger and thumb.

Michael’s entire forearm disappeared into that pinch grip, and he could feel his teeny hand flex between his fingers.

“Pleasure to meet you as well.” He managed a tiny smile and shook his arm up and down once before letting go. Michael shook his hand as he let it drop to his side. “Uhm… Michael?”

“Yes, Jackie?” He’d taken a second to get his name out.

“Uh…… when I was getting you out of the glue trap… you held your ribs…. And then, earlier, you were holding your ribs again. Did,” He took a small breath, not wanting the answer. “Did I break you?”

Michael took a tiny step back. “No! Of course not, I have bruises-but you didn’t cause them!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “N-no, you didn’t break me. I – I just had bruised ribs and you squeezed them a little.”

He felt sick. Michael was still scared of him. “I hurt you.”

“No, you didn’t.” He lifted his shirt up, Jackie lowered his head down to look at him. Bile rose in his throat as he saw the ugly bruises all over his chest and sides. “You did not cause these. I-It was people my size who did this to me, n-not you.”

The guilt he felt was dashed in an instant, and replaced by overwhelming concern.

“Why would they be beating up on you?”

He shrugged. “Dated the wrong person, long story.” There was a stressed chuckle. “But, yeah, I’m by myself now… and with all your traps this place is a ‘no-go’ zone for others, so, you know, perfect for me.” Another stressed chuckle. “So you’ll be seeing a fair amount of me around.”

Jackie wanted to cuddle him, but he knew that it was a bad move. He was small and injured and scared.

“Well, before you go, I set some stuff out for you on the counter. Did you get any of it?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, uh, thank you, by the way.” He cleared his throat. “I best be going.”

“Okay,” He leaned back. “Would you like me to get you somewhere?”

“T-the counter I guess.”

Jackie had felt so much better when he watched Michael disappear this time. One, because he’d gotten to hold him again, cradle him as carefully in his palm more carefully than a tiny kitten. Two, because he felt like he’d made a lot of progress apologizing to him for the trap.


	6. Cookies and Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings other than mild swearing

Jackie was stress baking. It was easy enough to make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies and share them with his study group.

Was it a little embarrassing at first? Yes.

Were they making fun of him? No. They had started to beg and bribe him for them, with whatever little they had, and the costs were pretty much covered. It was a kind of home comfort for them.

He’d been shaping them into logs that he was going to put in the freezer when very suddenly Michael showed up, making Jackie jump back from the counter, startled. “Fuck!”

Michael had dropped to a crouch, arms covering his head, and then he slowly got back up, looking up at him after managing to recover. “No need to shout.” He continued his walk towards the empty bowl Jackie had made the dough in.

“You startled me, sorry.” Jackie was blushing as he took his place back at the counter, shaping the dough into logs, then wrapping them in wax paper and freezing them. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m good.” Michael’s voice was like a little squeak as he took a few small steps forward. God, his voice was so soft and so sweet. “What are you making?”

“Chocolate chip cookies.” He glanced down at him. “Want some chocolate?”

“I’ve never…. I’ve never had chocolate.”

Jackie blinked with disbelief before sighing through his nose. Of course he never had any chocolate. He had to scavenge for crumbs. Who leaves chocolate laying around? Especially in this building.

“Here, take as many as you need.” He nudged the half empty Costco sized bag of chocolate chips towards him with an elbow.

Michael stooped down to lean into the bag and came back with one in his arms. “I think I’ll only have one for now, if that’s all right with you.”

“Okay, bud.” Jackie continued on with the next log of chocolate chip cookies and while he wrestled with the wax paper, he kept an eye on Michael.

He watched him sit down, with the chocolate chip in his lap, and pull a little sharp instrument out of his bag, looking for the world like a handle-less knife, and he started to cut a little piece off of the tip. He felt something come and tug at his heart.

He was just so _cute._

Jackie shook his head, dispelling the temptation to just scoop him up and cuddle him. Michael was a person, and he had boundaries. Just because he was so freaking _cute_ and _small_ didn’t mean that Jackie could pick him up and hold him without consent.

As washed his hands free of any dough, he saw Michael taking a second chocolate chip and stuffing it in his bag.

“If you like them, you could stick around for when I’ve got the cookies baked.”

“How long would that take?”

“A little while. They need to chill for an hour, then I got to preheat the oven, and then I gotta actually cut and bake them. It’ll be a while, but we can hang out in the meantime, watch TV or talk or something. There’s a new season of Great British Baking show if you want to watch?”

Michael shuffled a little before shrugging. “O-okay.”

Jackie opened the freezer and stacked them in before shutting it tightly and leaning on it. “So, any particular reason you’re hanging out on my counter?”

Michael took a tiny step back and rubbed at his neck. “I-uhm-I was just….” His quiet little voice tapered off into tones Jackie couldn’t hear.

Jackie slumped down a little to be closer to hear a little better. “Don’t be embarrassed, you just seem kinda shy, so I was curious as to why you’d want to come hang out with me.”

“It… It gets lonely in the floor. Ever since I was, you know, banished, I’ve been alone. It’s only been a month or so, but it’s…” He trailed off, looking up at Jackie and then looking away. If Jackie didn’t know any better, he’d say he was blushing.

He gave a little half smile, trying to ease his nerves. “You know, I don’t have any friends at this school. The guys on the team tolerate me and all, but they’re not my _friends._ A lot of them have been going to the same places since middle school. All my friends are juniors in high school back home.” He sighed. “What I’m trying to say is that…. it’s cool if you want to hang out. You got way more limits on places you can go than me. Might as well talk to my roomie.”

“Roomie.” Michael echoed softly, and Jackie could swear he saw a tiny smile.

—

Michael was watching Jackie cut one of the logs and place it on a pan with the most fascinated expression that he could. And it was fascinating, seeing how all of it was made, even if the knife he was using was several times longer than Michael was tall. His mind had been wandering off to the yet-to-be-put-away bag of chocolate chips. The taste had been amazing, and he really wanted to grab several and stuff them in his bag.

Suddenly, Jackie spoke up. “Hey, I meant to ask, is the food I’ve been sitting out okay?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, any food is okay, especially fresh stuff like you’ve been putting out. It keeps pretty well, and it’s more than enough.”

“Do you have any requests? I’ve kinda been going with pretty generic things. Is there anything special you want?”

Michael bit his lip, looking in his bag for a second before looking back up at him. “Uhm, the stuff that keeps is fine, you’ve been putting out good stuff. But, i-if it’s not too much trouble, anything kinda calorie heavy? It just makes all this kinda easier?”

“Okay man, I can do that for you.” He gave him a little nod. “Any particular thing? Some kind of sweet?”

Michael started to think of all the other kinds of foods he’s glimpsed from the walls, and his mind was suddenly racing from the possibility of having choices. “Oh, uhm, I’ll let you decide.”

“Let’s see how you like my baking first, eh?” Jackie slid the pan into the oven and set the timer on his phone.

After a while, the timer had gone off and he had moved the cookies from the pan to a cooling rack, set the pan up with another batch, and then had tossed them back into the oven. When they had been labeled as sufficiently cool, Jackie had placed one down on a paper towel for Michael.

He cut a manageable piece off, and it was delicious. Jackie had stifled a chuckle at his enthusiasm, but he’d been very kind to Michael. There had been no sign of any traps since their first encounter, and no sign of any hostile intentions.

He’d saved him from a spider, and he always asked before he touched him more than a tiny nudge. His heart raced whenever he was with him, and it had taken him a long minute to realize that his heart wasn’t racing from fear. 

If he didn’t know any better, Michael would say that he liked Jackie, but that was ridiculous.

Jackie was a human, and Michael was, well, tiny. It just wouldn’t work.

Right?


	7. Private Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Nonsexual watching of a human, mentions of a cat on nip, failed hand-holding, brief mentions of bait/traps, denial of feelings.

Jackie had stuck to his word. There was a little more variety in the foods that Michael had found in the containers and there were even sweets and delicious perishable items. It wasn’t uncommon for Jackie to find Michael sitting propped up against the container, nibbling on food at various times of the day and night.

At least Michael’s ribs were finally no longer a hindrance, and he was feeling a lot better. Without the worry of food, he found himself watching the human a lot more. Just watching.

Watching him do his homework and projects, sprawled out on the couch. Earbuds in, tapping out a beat either with his foot or with his fingers against the edge of the page, mumbling the lyrics or belting it out with a bobbing head.

Cooking in the kitchen. He’d have the radio going, much softer than he normally did when before Michael told him to turn it down a little because he was loud for his little ears. He swayed his hips as he worked, humming along or occasionally singing half of the lyrics.

Though, it was a personal favorite of Michael to watch him doing a light workout every other day. His muscles were on full display, intimidating and massive, but also really, really appealing. It was quite nice to watch from a distance where he wasn’t afraid of their power.

He also tried to do something nice in return for the food he was putting out. There was just something about taking handouts without trying to pay for them didn’t sit right with him. A few times Jackie would lose his pen or pencil and Michael would tell when where it was or drag it out for him.

Also, Jackie would talk to him about something if he was stuck on a project. Michael couldn’t understand most of what he was talking about, but he was willing to listen. He felt like it was helping the big human. 

And he may or may not have been starting to really enjoy just sitting with him and watching him talk, even talking back on occasion. It made him feel good to sit and watch the human. Jackie was actually a really nice guy.

And it was a bit of a bonus his heart would flutter every time he saw him flex.

—

Jackie was making dinner for both of them. Frozen pizza cooked in the very finicky oven. He’d made it his goal to introduce the scrawny little guy to a wider variety of food.

Though, he stopped looking so sickly after a few weeks. More solid, a lot less like a deep breath would knock him over. The poor guy was so small.

Michael had seemed to be a little more confident now in being out with him now. He would be sitting on the table or counter and he would be actually talking back to him. He’d yet to really touch or hold him often, but it was something at least. To just talk.

He was actually kind of funny. Good puns. He was a good listener. He would sit on the edge of a textbook and listen to Jackie vent about school.

Michael would talk back sometimes, just like funny things he’d seen or heard in the walls. Jokes. Gossip on the neighbors. Apparently, the neighbors across the hall are very messy in the kitchen, and the place is a mess most of the time.

It was one of those times while Michael was sitting on the counter, not too far away from where Jackie was leaning on the counter. Jackie was keeping a close eye on the timer he’d set, wary of letting the pizza burn and having it tear up his mouth.

“And the cat, she was on nip, right?” Michael was struggling to hold back laughter while he spoke. “A-and Ash was against the wall, and it was so scary at the time, but i - it’s funny now, but she was purring like he was her kitten. We thought he was a goner for sure!”

“Must have been scary.”

“It was, but like, ever since she’s been getting nip pretty much every weekend, it’s a breeze to scavenge there now. Still can’t get caught by her though. It’s hard to make her let go.”

Jackie chuckled quietly and checked the timer, letting his hand absently rest on the counter near where Michal was sitting.

He still had a few minutes, and he was glancing into the oven. It still needed a few more minutes. His mind was wandering. Maybe he should tell him about his little cousin and his circle of friends that Jackie had half adopted. Tell him what about them, though? They had used to set baited traps to trap Little Bits when they were kids?

Just as Jackie was settling on the fact that they were pretty much the entire basketball team, with the exception of himself as one of the defensive linemen, he felt something touch the hand he had resting on the counter.

Glancing down, he saw Michael touching the base of his thumb. It felt like he had an ice chip on his hand. Slowly, Michael’s gaze wandered up his arm and when he saw Jackie looking, he gasped and quickly withdrew.

“You okay? You’re ice cold.” He flipped his hand over so it was palm up. “I don’t mind.”

Very, very hesitantly, Michael stepped into his hand. Jackie could hardly feel his slight weight as he settled in the middle of his palm. He gave a little smile and then he lifted his hand up and he held him to his chest.

—

Michael’s heart was surely going to burst out of his chest. He could feel it.

He’d gone to try and maybe hold his hand, only to be startled away from touching his warm skin by a look. Dear lord, he was hopeless.

Jackie had then done the unimaginable. He had offered to hold Michael. It had taken a lot of bravado, but he did manage to work up the courage to walk up and sit in the middle of his palm. And then, oh man, then Jackie held him to his chest.

His heart was pounding and he felt very, very warm despite the chill in the air.

He could blame the warmth on Jackie. He was pressed to his blue shirt, face buried in the cloth, and it was like being held by a space heater. He had two fistfuls of the thick, blue cloth and he was afraid to look up. He just didn’t want to look up and see that smile that always made him weak at the knees and then have his heart give out from pounding so hard.

Under all this thick, hard muscle were much softer muscles that kept such an enormous human alive. He could hear Jackie’s much calmer heart thumping away inside his chest, a stark contrast to the humming-bird like rhythm Michael’s heart was going at. He tried to slow his breathing, but he’d like to see someone else try being smushed to the chest of a really attractive giant when they are so, _so gay._

He very slowly peeled his face out of the cloth and glanced up. Jackie wasn’t even looking, thank goodness.

Michael just buried his face in Jackie’s chest again, and he sighed. It was nice being held.

—

Jackie had forgotten what he had been doing when suddenly the timer shrieked. He’d been lost in the idea of holding a small life in his hands.

He fumbled to shut it up one-handedly and he glanced down at Michael, who was staring up at him. “Uh, I need my hands.”

“Oh, right.” Michael let go of his shirt.

Jackie set him on the counter and grabbed the tray and the pizza cutter.

Why was he blushing?

He shouldn’t be blushing.

That was just a little hug. It was to warm him up. There wasn’t much other meaning behind it.

_Don’t look too into it, Jack, you’ll just confuse yourself._


	8. Downtime Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings

It was a rare time for Jackie, indeed. Between football and classes and homework he was just trying to keep himself from going crazy.

So, he had the night off, and he was wasting it by laying in his bed, scrolling through Tumblr. He’d been doing a little bit of research on Little Bits, found the other names human called them, followed a few blogs, and so his dash was looking weirder than it had normally been.

Shifting the foot he had propped up on a couple of pillows, he refreshed the page again, found no other new posts, and then let the phone drop to his chest. He looked at the clock, covered his face, and groaned. He’d wasted a precious hour on just one blog.

“Jackie?”

He jumped a little, eyes shooting down to catch Michael standing on his nightstand, staring up at him as he lounged on his pillows. “How long have you been standing there?”

“A little while.” He shuffled his tiny feet. “You, uh, you got home early.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.” He reached out and set his hand, palm up, on the nightstand next to Michael. “How was your day?”

He shrugged and stepped on. “I slept a lot, and I made a little progress on my new shirt.” He sat in the middle of his palm. “How was your day?”

“Great. I have the night off.” He brought him over and he set him on his chest, moving the still on phone out of the way. “Are you hungry? I could order takeout.” He gently brushed his fingertip across his back. “I’m too tired to cook tonight.”

He shrugged. “Whatever you want’s fine. You don’t stress yourself for little ole’ me.”

Jackie felt a smile tug on his lips. “Thanks, man.”

He carefully laid his hand over Michael, gently holding him to his chest. Michael made a little noise, and he saw him grab his shirt.

“Is this too much?” He lifted his hand enough for him to crawl out if he wanted to. “I should have asked first.”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Michael assured him, letting go of his shirt to pat his chest. “Just a little startled.”

Jackie set his hand back down, and he let his head drop back. He was so tired, but he really needed to eat as well. And he did have Michael in his hands… probably best to let him go before he either passed out or ordered Chinese takeout.

He sighed deeply, and he put a hand behind his head so he could look at Michael easier.

The little guy was so cute. Delicate. Small. Like a kitten.

—

Michael was internally screaming, but in a good way. He was ever so gently cupped to a muscular chest, with a hand over him. And it wasn’t dangerous, like any rational person his size would think. It was actually quite enjoyable. It was nice and warm without being stifling. He didn’t feel as exposed as he normally did out in the rooms. He was huddled in the dark, and it made him feel like he was safe.

The deep breathing lifted him up and then down, up and then down. He could pretty much feel the heartbeat lazily thudding away somewhere in his body. It was quite a peaceful rhythm.

After a little bit, he felt Jackie’s thumb move in and start to stroke at his side.

He was blushing more than a little at the slow, careful movement. He could feel his thumb nail and fingertip start at about mid-thigh, then stroke up to his ribs, then right back down to about mid-thigh. It was nearly in time with his deep, loud breathing.

Michael shuffled a little away, and then Jackie lifted his hand a little off his back. “Sorry.”

“N-no, it’s alright.” He had to clear his throat. “Its fine, I was just a little startled.”

Flustered, more like it.

“Hmn.” The hand lifted away, and before Michael could start to fear anything, Jackie stretched on the bed.

His back arched sharply, arms going up to push at the wall. Michael yelped quietly and gripped his shirt tight to make up for the lack of something holding him after being lifted quickly up at an angle. He could hear Jackie take a deep, pained breath, and then flop back down. Michael was bounced quite a bit to the noise of the bedsprings protesting, but it wasn’t enough to break his grip on the thick, grey cloth.

“You good?” Jackie ever so gently touched his back.

Michael buried his face in his shirt, not wanting Jackie to see how flustered he was. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I’m gonna pick you up, if that’s okay.”

“O-okay.”

Fingers snaked around his body and lifted him up. Jackie sat up and he held Michael on his open palm, letting him orient himself first before speaking. “I’m craving Chinese takeout. Sound good to you, little bud?”

“Uh, sure!” Michael was still quite flustered, so much so he didn’t even stop to realize he had little idea as to what that exactly was.

“Great.”

—

The two were sitting at the table, a little while later, and Michael was trying to figure out how to portion himself so he didn’t fill up on just one thing. There was a lot, and he wanted to try a bit of everything.

Jackie had been eating with plastic forks out of the fried rice container, the wooden chopsticks in their brightly colored wrapped lay forgotten, possibly destined to be swept into the trash after a teenagehood of being unable to ever use them properly by the only one in the room big enough to use them. Jackie had his feet propped up in the other chair, head turned away from Michael. He knew that it made the little guy uncomfortable when he looked at him while he ate.

He didn’t blame him.

Michael was tiny. It was probably some kind of natural instinct to be afraid of larger things eating something nearly as big as you.

He just wished he would be able to not scare the poor little guy so much.

He did, however, occasionally glance his way to check up on him. Jackie did notice that Michael would stick a few grains of the rice into his bag, things that could be still fine if it wasn’t refrigerated.

“Say, uh, Mike.” Michael looked up. “Have you been eating well, you know, besides when you’re here with me? I’ve seen you put some food in your bag, so you probably store it. Is your food situation okay?“

He nodded. "I’ve been, uh, taking little bits of food when you offer some. And the container on the counter makes the trips a lot easier. I’ve been eating.” He patted his stomach. “Don’t worry.”

“How’ve your ribs been doing?”

“They’ve healed up.” He absently touched his chest. “It’s not hurt in a while and all the ugly bruising is gone.”

“That’s good.” He took another spoonful of rice and they fell back into a companionable silence.

It was quite nice, having Michael around. Though, sometimes he couldn’t understand why his heart would pick up or when he would blush when he was caught staring. He had to rationalize it as he was embarrassed that he’d been caught staring.

Michael was very careful in sneaking glances towards Jackie. His heart was still racing from earlier, and he didn’t want to ruin his ideas of attraction to Jackie with some stupid, primal fear.


	9. Realizations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Swearing, realizations of feelings, Michael is anxious, Jackie is in denial.

The first sign was the doodles in the edges of the margins.

Jackie had been scrawling little doodles around his notes. He wasn’t the best of the artist, but he thought that they were good. The hook, the bag, holding Michael safely in the palms of in his hands.

He realized that something was definitely up when he started to add hearts around a doodle of him sitting on the edge of a plate.

He smudged the pencil with his thumb and then brought his focus back to the lecture. He needed to keep his focus. He would be home late that day because of practice, but he would be frequently thinking of the Little Bit he shared his apartment with.

The second sign to Jackie was that he was thinking a lot about him.

He thought of things like whether or not he was going to show up that day. If he’d be able to talk to him. His mind wandered during practice and during lectures.

He’d been smacked in the helmet and yelled at to focus more times that week than he cared to recall.

“Levitt, pick up the pace on those laps!”

“Yes, coach!” Jackie shook his head and sped up his jog.

He was distracted during study sessions about where Michael could be at that moment. He had placed him in his mind probably in his home, whatever it may look like.

He thought of the borrower books by Mary Norton and how she described their homes. A hodgepodge of human trinkets that they had been able to find. Stamps on the wall instead of posters, doll furniture. As he doodled, he replaced some of the items with stuff one would normally find in apartments mostly rented to college-age kids.

Beer caps on the wall, a lost class ring as a centerpiece in the middle of the table, and bits of homework, stacked in a corner, salvaged from a frustrated student tearing their essay in half to start over again. He paused at the thought of the bedroom, unsure of what he would even be sleeping on.

It’s not like people had or could afford miniatures in college. There was no reason for anyone to actually create a tiny mattress, and he doubted that Michael would be able to actually make a mattress.

His best idea was either a sponge, one of the soft crafting ones, or a literal nest of blankets that he was sleeping on. He would need to ask Michael if he showed up for dinner what his bed looked like. It was at the least an innocent question, a conversation starter.

At the absolute worst, it was a dirty joke, but hopefully, Michael didn’t see it like that.

Jackie crumpled up the paper, and when he tried to hit the trashcan he was reminded why, outside of playing in the backyard with his cousin and his group of friends, he did not play basketball, and why he was not quarterback.

—

Michael lay stretched out in bed, too comfortable in the warmth of his blankets to get up. He’d been laying there since Jackie had woken him up getting up, getting ready, and leaving.

A blush crept up his face at the idea of seeing Jackie just after he rolled out of bed. He didn’t wear a shirt to bed, as the many times he’d appeared at the entrance under the bed to see a shirt collapse on the floor as Jackie settled in for sleep displayed.

It would get too cold in the night for Michael to not sleep in a full outfit.

The blankets were kinda thin, and he’d already sacrificed all but one of them to keep him off of the scratchy foam that was his mattress. 

He felt quite warm when Jackie held him though. But any three or more syllable words escaped him. It was hard to talk when he was oh-so-gently holding him in his hands. Michael could have been crushed in his hands, but he didn’t.

The enormous amount of power that Jackie has was always kept far at bay when he was holding Michael. Cradling him to his chest. Gently nudging him with a fingertip.

Michael groaned and tried to smother himself with a blanket. He needed to calm down when it came to Jackie holding him.

Was it really nice to be held by someone so large? Yes. Yes, it was.

Was it flattering to know that Jackie was holding back all that strength he had in stock so that way he wouldn’t harm or scare him? Absolutely.

Did it feel like a little more of his soul was put back into him when he was held to his chest, palm heavy but not crushing against his back, the only noise was Jackie’s breathing and heartbeat? You bet your ass it did.

Was it any reason to think that it meant anything?

Well, Michael really wanted it to mean something. It probably didn’t. Just Jackie trying to express a little platonic affection.

But what if it _did_ mean something? What if Jackie did like him?

Michael realized he _wanted_ Jackie to like him. He knew that he had a crush on Jackie, he’d known it from the first time he looked at him and blushed like crazy. But he didn’t just get flustered anymore. He _wanted_ to be loved.

When he looked back on the other times he felt like this, he had realized the only other time he did was with Ash.

The first time they held hands. Their first kiss. He was feeling all of the feelings he had then whenever Jackie held him.

He slowly got out of bed, the realization almost a tangible weight on his back. He _liked_ Jackie. And he really wanted Jackie to _like_ him back.

Dating a human. Maybe there was something wrong with him.

He needed a plan to tell him. Just tell him the right way and pray that Jackie returned the feeling.

—

Jackie was on the walk back, and he had his earbuds in, some wordless synth music playing. His hands were shoved in his jacket pockets, and he had his head down.

He could nearly feel Michael’s weight lounging against his fingers, but there was no warmth from his little body. There was no faint heartbeat. As Jackie walked, he realized he really wanted Michael to be with him at that moment.

He wanted Michael to be curled up in his hands, against his fingers.

Oh.

_Oh._

“It’s not just a tiny cute…. I think he’s a gay cute.“ He rubbed his face and cursed himself out for being so stupid. “When was the only other time you impulsively drew, you giant, frickin’ dumbass!” He sighed and glanced down at his arm, pulling up his jacket to reveal the dark swirls on ink on the underside of his right arm. Nearly identical to the ones he drew for - “Tiffany, nine grade! Brad and Kim in eleventh grade! Dumbass!”

Someone was staring at him from a few feet away, their face twisted in confusion as their empty coffee cup tumbled into the garbage can.

After a glare was shot their way, they held their hands in surrender and walked away.

Jackie shoved his hands back in his pockets and kicked a rock almost all the way to his apartment. He had only last impulsively drew like he did when he had a crush on somebody, which is why it had looked so bad when he started.

And apparently, he had a crush on Michael now.

He sighed as he started going up the stairs. He didn’t want to pressure the little guy into anything. Jackie knew he was intimidating, and the last thing he wanted was to pressure Michael into dating someone who he was scared of. He would just have to not tell him anything. Maybe, at the most, drop some hints to open the invitation. He would get it over it eventually.

Right?


	10. Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Cat, breif discussion of a character’s weight, more buildup

It was the first time Michael had gone to another apartment in more than a few months. A lot of his feelings had come to a head the more he had thought about it and he realized that he had a serious attraction to Jackie.

Since the big guy handled him so much, he only deserved to know.

They’d talked about relationships, past significant others. They were both into men. Jackie liked multiple genders, men included, and Michael only liked men. It’s not like Michael was going to force anything onto Jackie. He was a human. He could say no.

But, if Michael was going to confess his attraction, he had to do it right. He had to find a flower petal. Preferably rose, but anything would do.

Hopefully the couple at the end of the hall was still together. There was nearly always roses in their apartment, since they were really sappy.

He was racing through the walls, tugging his shirts down after he’d had to climb up or down. There were two things he’d noticed in the many weeks he had been spending with the near constant company of Jackie.

Number one, he had become familiar with the concept of overeating. He’d been scrawny before meeting Jackie, since there was always three or four months in the year where the entire colony went through a famine during the summer, so when he had more food than he could possibly eat in front of him, he did his best to fill up, and it was very easy to get carried away.

Many meals with Jackie ended up with Michael laying sprawled out across Jackie’s palm, or thigh, or stomach, or chest, unmoving while his stomach processed his meal, simply enjoying the company of the much bigger man.

Number two, he had gained a little bit of a belly. He didn’t like admitting it, and he was quite frankly embarrassed, but the lack of having to run around and climb for hours every single day and the overabundance of food made it perfect conditions for him to gain a little weight over the months.

Thankfully Jackie hadn’t noticed, but then again, Michael tried to hide his belly from the human. He was proud of it in the privacy of his home, silently gloating over the colony, but in front of Jackie, he felt like he was supposed to hide it. Jackie’s belly was firm, and Michael had been fortunate enough to recently be able to glimpse the abs Jackie was hiding under his shirt.

Michael found himself blushing at recalling the memory as he hopped off a low ledge, continuing towards the end of the hall. He’d just been passing through the walls of Jackie’s bedroom, after a long night of taking apart a pen, he was going to grab breakfast from the kitchen when he happened to glance out through the crack in the wall that gave him a peephole and he saw Jackie stretching, shirt off.

He’d needed to sit down, covering his face while he blushed.

Jackie was so hot.

And Michael was so, _so_ gay.

He shook himself back to reality as he was about to go out into the apartment. He hadn’t heard any of the humans. These hours had the apartments normally pretty empty. He had waited for a while, listening, and when he heard nothing but the noise of the building, he came out from the hole at the bottom of one of their walls.

He dashed across the floor, taking the most direct path so he could be in and out as quickly as he could. The last thing he needed was to be seen by anyone, his size or much larger. The table, with its handmade vase of flowers sitting in the middle, was his goal.

Soon, he was standing at the base of the table, pulling his climbing hook out of his bag and remembering where the anchor point was. He had just thrown it up there and gotten it hooked when he heard a soft, squeaky meowing.

He whipped around and saw a tiny kitten waddling his way. It was just a baby, with the triangle tail and chubby looking body.

Michael swallowed hard and started to scramble up the rope.

“They didn’t have a cat, when did they get a cat, there isn’t supposed to be a cat in here.” He made it up onto the table, reeling his rope back in before the kitten could try to chew the thread or knock it down. It sat under him, staring up at him with watery blue eyes, then made that squeaky meow again.

“Shoo!” Michael waved his hands at it and then went over to the roses in the glass vase on the table. “Thank goodness they still have roses.”

It was filled with water and white and red roses. Michael crossed his arms and sized up the flowers. He needed a petal for Jackie, but what color?

He couldn’t remember which one meant ‘I love you,’ so he went with red because that just seemed to be the kind of roses that people got their lovers all the time. He’s stolen a pastel pink petal when he’d confessed to Ash, as that was the only color available then, but this was different.

He was trying to confess to a human. A really big, really attractive human.

Michael tossed his hook, managing to snag it on a stem of one of the roses. He started to pull on it, trying to pull one of the stems out, but it was snagged on one of the other rose stems.

“Stupid thorns, locking things up.” He untangled his hook from the array of green and he actually clung to the lip of the vase as he looked up at the roses from this angle, trying to see which red one he could pull out. “Oh, there we go.”

With a little tugging, and a little hook work, Michael was able to get one of the barely opened up roses out of the vase. He hopped down and inspected the petals carefully as he decided which one he was going to pluck.

He might as well take two, just in case he tore the other one.

It wasn’t a struggle to separate two of the petals from the rest of the rose. The struggle was storing them without putting a crease in them.

Once they were safely tucked away, Michael glanced over the side of the table. The kitten was still sitting there, albeit it was laying on its side, biting its paw.

“Shoo!” He groaned in frustration.

It got to its feet and squeaked angrily at him.

Michael looked around and saw that there was a little shiny toy sitting up on the table. It was still new, still with the tag attached to it. “Okay, distraction time.”

After wrestling with the tag, he put the toy on the very edge, crinkling the soft toy to get the kitten’s attention. “Want the toy? Go get it.” He kicked it as hard as he could.

The kitten waddled over to it and patted it with its front paws, so Michael ran while the kitten was distracted.

\---

Michael flopped into his bed, staring at his prize. Two rose petals, nice and bright red, were propped up on the wall by his bed. He smiled to himself and snuggled under the covers, content with himself.

His stomach growled, and he sighed and hauled himself out of bed to his pantry. He grabbed the bigger petal and he smoothed out the creases while he ate some of the things he had taken from the container in the kitchen. Some dried fruit, and a piece of chocolate.

He ran his fingers across the texture of the petal, trying to think about how he was going to be confessing to Jackie tomorrow. After a long time of thought, he was thinking that the best way to just do it was just to do it.

Just march up to him and tell him how he felt.

The big guy was currently at a football game in another state, but after telling Michael, he had made sure to leave enough food in the container for Michael to eat, and eat he did. He’d been treating himself to large, full meals with Jackie gone for the weekend.

Michael really liked Jackie, and all he could do was just hope that Jackie did like him.


	11. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Fearful mental spiral, self-deprecating thoughts, brain being mean to person who has it, comfort, size difference kissing.

Everything was in place for Michael. Jackie was home, and he seemed to be in a good mood. Apparently they’d won the game over the weekend, even if Jackie was wearing an ankle brace all the time now, he still seemed to be in a good mood.

Michael had the rose petal safely tucked in his bag, and he was climbing up the table to where Jackie was sitting, injured leg propped up in the other chair, reading a book.

He’d absently noticed as he observed from the bookshelf before he went to go scale his way up the table was that Jackie was reading this one for his own pleasure, and not for a class. For classes he normally had something to take notes on or with in his hands, but this time there was nothing other than an old bookmark.

Michael managed to haul himself up onto the table. He removed the rose petal and smoothed it out over the edge. It was a little more delicate, but it was sturdy enough that he could smooth out the slight crease and it was as good as new.

He straightened his clothes out, brushing himself off, straightening out his bags, and then he approached Jackie, the rose petal as behind his back as he could possibly have it.

Jackie’s eyes had flicked towards him, causing him momentary pause before going back to his book. Michael continued to make small steps forward, hiding the petal and doing his best to be casual.

It didn’t stop Michael’s mind from tormenting him with the idea of rejection.

 _What are you doing?_ It told him. _That’s a human. You can’t date a human. Are you crazy?_

He shook his head and kept going, but the thoughts got too overwhelming for him once he was within comfortable reaching distance, and he froze, two sides of him fighting over whether or not to abandon the project or push forward, results be dammed.

_What are we doing?! This is a human! We need to get out of here! He doesn’t want or need us, so we just better get home before he sees the flower petal._

_No! This isn’t just a human. It’s Jackie. He likes us. It’ll be okay._

_He’s going to be disgusted and you’re going to have ruined our only source of companionship. Hopefully he’ll just squash us with the book so we don’t have to live with the shame._

_“Need something, Mike?”_

He jumped a little out of his thoughts and cleared his throat, making sure that the rose petal was still behind him before looking up at Jackie. “What?”

“Do you need something?” He shut the book with a thud after sticking the frayed bookmark in the pages. “You’ve been standing there for a while, you know.”

“I have?” He cleared his throat. “Sorry, uh, yeah, I do need to ask you something.”

He rested his head on his arms crossed on top of the book. “Mkay. Shoot.”

Michael brought the flower petal out from behind his back, brushing some imagined dirt off the edges before holding it out on display to Jackie. “Uh, I found this, and I wanted-” He had to swallow whatever was choking him, probably air, as he took a tiny step forward- “I wanted to give it to you and I wanted to ask you if you’d be willing t-to take me as a romantic partner?”

Jackie didn’t answer, and Michael’s tongue steamrolled ahead, already making him a bigger fool of himself than he already was.

“I-if you don’t that’s fine, we don’t have to bring it up again. I – I just wanted to know if you’d be willing, and it’d perfectly fine that you don’t.”

Why wasn’t Jackie saying anything?!

He was just sitting there, head slightly raised up and forcing Michael to crane his neck up above a comfortable level. His mouth was slightly open, and his expression was completely unreadable. There was just nothing that gave him a sign in those near black eyes.

Lord, Michael was hopeless.

What had he been thinking? Being a romantic partner for a human! He was a loon. A hopeless loon. His mind immediately picked back up on the string of torment that it had subjected him to up until that point.

_He’s a human, you’re a borrower! What did you think was going to happen? You’re an insignificant insect to him! You can’t kiss him right, you can’t be intimate with him, you can’t even try and hug him back or hold his hand! This was pointless and now you’ve sabotaged your only source of friendship, I hope you’re satisfied._

He trembled a little, lowering the rose petal from the offered position. His throat was stopped up and hot, stressed tears welled in his eyes. He just needed to go. Before Jackie decided he wasn’t worth the company.

—

Meanwhile, the inside of Jackie’s mind was chaos, the kind of chaos that is only brought on by hearing unexpected good news. Good chaos.

Michael actually _liked_ him.

Like… like-liked him.

He didn’t have to find a way to maybe drop some hints to see if Michael returned the feelings. He was standing less than a foot away, a flower petal in hand, confessing the fact that he was in love with him, and he wanted to be his partner. He’d confessed his attraction to Jackie, and now Jackie had to respond, but it was taking him a fair minute.

He still had to sort through his thoughts, racing as they were, and put together some kind of acceptable response to being asked to be someone’s boyfriend. As he thought, he began to realize that he had just been sitting here with a dumb look on his face ever since Michael spoke.

_Say something you buffoon!_

“Mike, I-”

Michael took a few small steps back, trembling in every limb. “I-I’m sorry. Never mind.” And then he turned to run away.

_Shit shit shit shit SHIT! He’s leaving! Do something!_

“Wait! Don’t go.” He scooped Michael up off the table, and after a split second decision, he kissed him.

Michael squeaked, a frightened sound, as Jackie pressed his lips against his back. He tasty a little dusty, and he froze up under his touch. After a second, he relaxed slightly and Jackie pulled away.

“I like you too, okay?” Jackie saw Michael turn over to look him in the eyes, and Jackie did his best to give him the softest smile he could at the sight of tears. “And I would love for you to be my boyfriend if you’ll have me.”

“O-oh.” Michael very carefully readjusted himself so the flower petal was in his lap, still clutching the edge of the velvety petal. “T-thank you, Jackie.”

Jackie carefully plucked the rose petal out of his grip and he kissed him again, softer, and on the face. He was warm and he had definitely started to cry a little. “Where did you even get this?” He held him carefully cupped in one hand and he inspected the rose petal. “It’s, like, November.”

“The, uh, the neighbors down the hall almost always have fresh roses.” He rubbed the back of his neck and he straightened out his clothes, trying to be presentable when he was a flustered mess. “They’re kinda sappy like that.”

“That’s sweet.” He leaned back in his chair and carefully pressed Michael on his chest. “Thanks, really. I know it took a lot to go so far.”

“W-what’s a trip down the hall to grab a rose petal when compared to going all the way to another state for a football game?”

Michael loved feeling Jackie laugh.


	12. First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings/Notes: Self-doubt, bean sharing food, very mild food and/or mouth play (I don’t even know if it counts for either, it’s very mild, ngl), and just overall awkwardness.

Michael was sitting in one of the chest pockets in one of Jackie’s flannel shirts as Jackie left to get them both the carry out they agreed on. On the other side of the cloth, Michael could feel Jackie’s heart steadily beat away in his chest somewhere to his left.

It was his first time in the pocket, so he was a fair bit unsteady. He still had to get the hang of being swayed by Jackie’s footsteps as he walked. It wasn’t as steady as he would have liked, but Jackie had been injured a little in the last game he played in so there was a slight limp.

To keep himself steady, Michael had huddled into the corner of his pocket seam against his back, bag sitting in his lap. Jackie had complained about the chill when he had stepped out into the street, but Michael couldn’t really complain, honestly. He was sandwiched between Jackie’s chest and his heavy denim jacket, so he was actually quite warm when the wind didn’t catch the edge of his jacket and let itself in.

At least it muffled the noises. It would be too loud otherwise, with all the other people bustling around in cars or motorcycles or bikes or on foot.

He heard the tinkling of a bell as the noises changed from the street to another kind of background noise. More voices, less sounds of cars, and music playing somewhere among it all.

Jackie was speaking, presumably to place their order. They’d talked over what they wanted at the apartment, it really wasn’t anything special. Jackie wanted to show Michael the food from this little diner he frequented when he was tired, and after looking through their carry out menu, Michael had decided on a burger and fries. Jackie had agreed.

A little unconventional, but there wasn’t anything conventional about their relationship.

Michael had been a little teasing when he had suggested the date, and he had little to no clue about what really Jackie expected from him. He’d half expected the suggestion was going to be met with a chuckle and a joke about the two of them going and sitting down in a restaurant. Instead, it was met with a nod and a ‘mkay, what are you feeling?’ while he reached for a couple of to-go menus.

Now he was huddled in the bottom of a pocket, feeling like he was under performing.

He’d given Jackie the other flower petal, and both of the petals were pressed in a sketchbook on the night stand, but he didn’t know if it was enough. Jackie was a _human_ and they were able to do so much more than any Little Bit (he kinda liked the name Jackie had) would be able to.

Like, the day after they’d gotten together, Jackie had come home and had one of those little sampler boxes with him for Michael, the ones with four chocolates in them. It was really sweet, and Michael had offered to share so he didn’t have a bunch of chocolate lying about his house. But he just felt like there was something more he should be doing.

He was mentally toying with an idea, but he wasn’t sure exactly how he would go about starting.

Michael got jarred out of his thoughts when he felt fingers on him. Jackie had carefully patted the pocket, quietly assuring his passenger that he was going to be okay and that they were going to be getting home soon.

He gently patted the firm wall to his left, hoping that Jackie could even feel that.

—

Jackie was trying to keep his strides steady as he climbed the stairs, elevator out of order yet again. It was broken just as much as it worked. He didn’t want to jostle Michael around in his pocket, so he had to make sure that he wasn’t stomping up the stairs like he normally did.

He’d become a lot more self-aware of how much he stomped since he’d befriended Michael. He’d figured out how to walk a lot softer at least so Michael wasn’t going to complain.

Not that he ever did, but Jackie could tell from the nervous body language and the flinching that he was sometimes moving too quickly or moving around too heavily. So, he fixed it. Much less nervousness from the little guy now.

He elbowed the door to their apartment open and he locked it behind him. “We’re home, Mike.” He set the take out bag down on the table and shed his coat.

He could just feel the little guy moving in his pocket. He nudged it open and peered down at him. He was staring up at him, a tiny grin on his face. “Awesome, get me out of here.”

He carefully fished him out with a couple of fingers, quickly transferring him into his open palm. “You okay? I didn’t jostle you too much?”

“Nope. I’m good.” He grinned.

“Good.” Jackie lowered his hand to the table and Michael hopped off. He dug through the bag, pulling out the three Styrofoam containers, placing the smallest one aside for later and he checked the contents of the two meal containers. “This one is yours,” he set one down in front of Michael, “And this is mine.” He set the other one in front of his chair.

Jackie grabbed the ketchup out of the fridge, and when he turned back to the table, we has able to catch Michael’s greedy hand rubbing as he approached the container. He felt a smirk tug at his lips as he sat down. “Excited?”

Michael paused and glanced up at him, rubbing at his neck. “You’ve been talking this place up, I’m hungry.”

Jackie shook his head a little as he opened up his container to reveal his double cheese burger and steak cut fries. “It is good, I promise… need some help with that?”

“No, I’ve got it.” Michael managed to open up the container, the Styrofoam popping back and away from him. “Ta-dah.”

Michael had wanted pretty much the same thing, but he’d been a little more wary about toppings on his burger. Jackie didn’t blame him.

“Here, for your fries.” He nudged a ketchup packet towards him, something easier for him to use than the bottle.

“Thanks.” He tossed it over the edge of the container and then stepped in, and Jackie watched him as he ate his fries, trying to not call attention to himself while he ate. Michael was still unnerved by that, and Jackie didn’t blame him.

It was quite interesting to watch him work food as big as he was into something more manageable for him to eat. He’d left his bag outside of the container, only really bringing his little knife in with him so he was able to cut things to size.

He watched him first clear off a spot for him to stand, kicking fries around and then cutting a piece off that he was manageable for him to eat. Then he tried to work on the ketchup packet, which was entertaining. He’d left his knife stuck in the side of the container, where he’d cut up a fry, so he tried to tear it open with his hands.

This only ended with a big glob of ketchup squirting out and getting on the front of his shirt.

Jackie bit back a snicker at the horrified look on Michael’s face and leaned forward, a little teasing mischief on the mind. Hopefully it went over well. “Here, let me help.”

—

Michael wanted to suddenly and inexplicably turn invisible as he looked in horror at the thick ketchup all over his shirt and glanced up at Jackie, face red hot with embarrassment. He must have looked so pathetic.

To his infinite surprise, Jackie leaned forward, the most restrained of smiles set on his lips. “Here, let me help.” He didn’t look pitying or disgusted, which was awesome, though, he couldn’t have guessed what he’d do next.

He felt the back of his shirt being tugged on and he lifted his arms to make sure that he wasn’t about to be hauled off his feet, slipping out of his shirt.

Covering himself with his arms, he glanced up at Jackie to see what he was doing, the question forming on his lips. His thoughts and words were scattered though when he saw Jackie gently tugging Michael’s own shirt out of his mouth.

Heat raced up his neck and he found himself unable to look away. Startling white teeth playing with the hem of his shirt, and then it was gently slid out of his mouth, now damp with spit instead of ketchup.

Part of him wished he’d still been in the shirt.

Hundreds of generations of carefully honed survival instincts were apparently lost on him.

Michael swallowed dryly and glanced away, confused and flustered like he’d hardly ever been before.

God, dating a human was the weirdest thing ever.

He loved it so much.

“I’ve not scared you off, have I?” Michael looked up at him. Jackie was a little concerned, and when he saw how red in the face Michael was, he grinned and carefully leaned forward. “I’ve not, if your expression is read correctly.”

He managed to find some words. “It takes a little more than that to scare me.”

“But it takes a little less to fluster you.” He held out Michael’s shirt.

“Oh hush, friggin’ giant.” He took it from his fingers and tried to calm himself down as he slid the damp cloth on.


	13. Little GIfts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains: Theft with intent to return, swearing, size different kisses

Michael had been a little bit sneaky. He had taken Jackie’s high school class ring. He wore the silvery band about as often as he didn’t, but it was the only ring that Michael knew of that actually fit his ring finger. The few others he owned he wore on his other fingers.

Michael was going to return the class ring as soon as he was done, but he had still taken it off the bathroom counter.

He mostly tried to avoid the bathroom, out of respect for Jackie’s privacy, but the ring was either in a box on the dresser, on his hands, or on the bathroom counter. So when he had left the house one day with it still sitting on the bathroom counter, Michael made a quick trip in, grabbed the ring, and took it directly to his house.

He had the ring currently laying against the mostly circular block of wood, and he was marking out the inside of the ring with a piece of pencil lead so it would be big enough to fit.

Once he had the markings done, he looked at the ring itself with intense curiosity. He’d seen a few similar, but it was super cool to see up close and personal.

The top had a big blue gem at the top, and it glittered this way and that in the light. Around the oval gem was what he assumed was the name of the high school. Maple Hills High School. On one side was his class year, with ‘Jackson’ near the stone, and on the other side was a jersey number 46. Silver metal made up the ring.

As he was admiring the ring, he noticed that he’d got his fingerprints on the metal and on the gemstone. He found a nice, clean rag, and he started to rub at the stone to polish it up for him. Soon, he was able to see no more fingerprints in the light and then moved on to the band, rubbing at the smooth, shiny metal until he was able to see his reflection in it.

He was just admiring the thing when he heard the door shut and he jumped. Was Jackie back already?

His stomach informed him that more time had passed than he had originally thought

He set it back on the wood block and he scrambled up towards the floor level, getting a few steps away from his house before he realized he’d forgotten his book and then went back to grab it. Once he had the hook in hand, he went up to the floor level.

The entrance closest to his house was directly under his bed, and he saw a familiar pair of shoes stumble in, the sigh audible to him from even under to Michael before everything shook as the human flopped onto the bed.

Michael glanced at the floor under him and briefly considered going and getting the ring so he could put it back or give it back. After a moment, he decided he better not, not until Jackie had left and he could put it right back where he had found it.

With a huff, he started to climb up the bed sheets that stretched nearly to the floor, near his muscular arm. Soon, however, he had gotten up onto the bed with him, taking a second to catch his breath.

Jackie had his face smushed into the covers, and if it wasn’t for subtle twitches of muscle and his breathing being audible - albeit muffled - Michael might have thought he had suffocated himself.

Michael grabbed a double fist full of his shirt and pulled himself up onto his shoulder. Jackie grunted and he turned his head to the side so he could speak clearly. “Hey, Mike.”

“Are you okay, big guy?” He walked from his shoulder blade down to the middle of his back, then up to his neck.

“’M done with my professor’s bullshit.” He sighed, and Michael widened his stance to not get thrown off balance.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Michael sat near the base of his neck, gently rubbing at the tense muscle under him. “I’ll listen without interrupting.”

“Maybe.” He mumbled before turning his head so he was at least facing Michael. “Down a bit.”

“You can feel this?” He pulled his hands away for a second before placing them just down a bit more than he had them.

“You’re not _that_ small.” He shifted a bit, getting comfortable. “A little more.”

It only took a few minutes of Jackie directing how he was attempting to massage his neck before Jackie started to actually open up. He was stressed, and Michael listened with rapt attention, only a comforting pat or an 'uh-huh’ or 'oh no’ breaking his silence.

After a little while of venting, Jackie awkwardly reached around for Michael, who slid into his palm. “Thanks, Michael, really.” He rolled onto his side and pressed him to his chest in the semblance of a hug. “You’re awesome.”

“Thank you.” He pressed his lips against his shirt, snuggling into his warm chest.

After a moment, Michael was concealed in a fist while Jackie shifted around to get in a more comfortable position. When Michael was released again, he was placed with his back on the pillow, with Jackie looming over him.

“Oh.” He whispered to himself.

One arm was coiled around the pillow, and the other hand was next to Michael, keeping him steady while the much larger man shifted. He’d propped himself up on one elbow, and he was watching Michael to see how he’d react. “Is this too much?”

Michael shook his head.

“May I kiss you?”

He nodded.

Jackie dipped his head down and pressed his lips against Michael’s body, squishing him slightly down into the pillow. Michael’s head was free, and he was able to see his enormous lips pressed against his chest, pressing him into the soft pillow.

Too soon, Jackie lifted his head again to give him space. “You good?”

“Mhm.” Michael sat up. “Can you kiss me again?”

Jackie gently pressed his lips against his head, gently pushing him back onto his back. Michael grabbed at Jackie for a second, pressing himself against his lips, doing his best to try and kiss back.

After a long minute, he pulled away, an amused look on his face. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Mhm.” Michael was taking a second to collect his breath and himself, face bright red as it was.

After how flustered he had become recently in regards to Jackie’s mouth, Michael just had a feeling that he wasn’t going to really he afraid of this form of affection.

“Come here, you big lug.”


	14. New Perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains: Mild injuries, mentions of a past injury, scary human, mild mentions of banishment and abandonment.

Ash had felt something was off as he returned home from his scavenging trip. People were abuzz with some kind of gossip, but they mostly hushed up as soon as Ash passed by. The hairs on the back of his neck refused to lay down and he kept a grip on the sewing needle he used as a weapon.

He never wanted to turn it on someone his size, but if he had to in order to protect himself, he would. Most haven’t looked at him the same way after Michael had been banished. Everyone knew he was on thin ice with the leaders, and it had ruined most of the respect his sword work had earned for him.

Once he was inside of his house once more, unpacking the food and the supplies he had managed to secure on the scavenging trip, did he realize what all the talk was about.

His mother had heard him in the main room and had rushed in with his father on her heels. Her curly blond hair was thrown in a haphazard ponytail and his father looked grim with his hard green eyes and silver hair. “Ash, do you know where Michael is?”

“No. Why?” He hated lying to his parents. “The last I saw him was the last time you saw him.”

“He was spotted the other day when someone went scavenging.” She put her hands on the table, blue eyes searching his for any deception. “And he was grabbing rose petals from the apartment on the floor above ours.”

“What?!” He felt the paper clip slip from his hands. “He’s alive!”

He had seen Michael after his banishment. Once, two days after, in the middle of the day. He’d stolen everything he could from his old house and put it in a bag for him. Michael had weakly told him where he was going, and with a tearful kiss, they parted.

He’d just hoped with every fiber of his being that Michael had survived up in the crazy human’s apartment on his own.

_I guess he did, at least he hasn’t been caught._

“Yes, and they’ve sent a search party to look for him.” She wrung her hands.

At Ash’s confused expression, his father spoke up. “Michael’s father is leading it.”

His heart dropped into his boots. “If they find him, they’ll kill him. Nobody has been near there since the beginning of the semester, they can just say that something else had got him and nobody will even look for the body!”

“Exactly, so I will ask you again.” His father gripped his hand tightly. “Do you know where he is?”

“Yes, I know where he is.” He emptied his bag as quickly as he could, nearly flipping it over. “H-have they left yet?”

“They left this morning to go investigate.”

“Then we need to go!” He nearly rushed out the door before both of them grabbed him back. “What?!”

“We’re coming with you. Michael is in real trouble, and we know how much he means to you.” Both of

his parents had their climbing gear, and his father had his medicine bag strapped to his back. He’d not seen his father ready to go out and climb in years. It was good to know that he cared enough to come out.

“Let’s go help him.”

—

Ash had led the way to the house under the apartment that had the human with all the traps in it. There was only the one, and it had been abandoned for a while. All they could do is hope that Michael had actually settled there like he’d planned when he left.

Nobody had been up here in months.

Nobody wanted to, it was far too dangerous, and there were easier places to borrow from. The reason his father limped so was because he’d had his leg caught in a mousetrap when Ash was young, and now this particular human had thought rat traps were necessary.

So it had understandably upset Ash when Michael had told him where he was going to hide out.

It had also upset Ash when Michael had insisted that Ash not come look for him, just in case he was going to be followed. He had been followed in the few weeks after Michael had been banished. But by the time that the leader had figured Michael had probably starved to death, he’d not been followed since.

Because he hadn’t wanted to know if Michael had been killed or not, Ash still didn’t go and look for him after he had stopped being followed everywhere. Now he had no choice. Michael needed his help.

“I cannot believe he chose to be up _here,_ of all places.” His mother hissed. “He’s not the bravest soul and yet he lives under the feet of one of the more dangerous humans that live in the building.”

“Think about it like this.” His father whispered in a low voice, bringing up the rear of the little group, his limp softly thudding in the dust behind them. “If you needed to hide from people our size, come and live in the place they’ve considered taboo.”

After that, they fell back into silence. Silence had been comforting for most of their lives, but this time it felt oppressive and it only made the unease that had settled in Ash’s stomach swell.

They had eventually found the house Michael had claimed as his own, with the door wide open. Not a good sign. “Michael!” Ash called out as he stepped in, frantically looking around for any sign of Michael.

The place had been trashed.

A large pantry, which had been full by the amount of food that had been scattered around the house, broken and ground into the floor, had the shelves smashed. The curtain and the rod that it hung on had been torn down and broken into pieces.

Furniture had been flipped over and smashed. In what looked like a workshop was a human’s ring, with a big scratch across the band, and a woodblock that had been carved into a perfect circle lay near a table that had been flipped over. Tools were scattered across the room.

“I don’t see any sign that he was here when this happened.” His father called out. “No blood, no scraps of clothes, his climbing gear and his scavenging bag are both gone.”

It did very little to ease the tension in his chest.

“The human isn’t up top. Maybe he was out scavenging?” Ash looked up towards the level where humans would walk around. “We need to find him, and we need to warn him. Should we split up?”

“Let’s not.” His mother stopped him. “We don’t know where Michael’s father is either, or when this human is supposed to be back. You were nearly banished yourself, and I cannot have you getting in trouble again. If we go up top to look for him, we go together, understand?”

He bit his protest back when he saw the steel in her eyes. “Yes, Mom.”

—

By the time they’d found Michael, the search party had found him first. He’d been up on a table, with one of the books that the human had left open nearby. They’d formed a circle, and he saw Michael stumbling between them, bloody nose.

Before anyone could stop Ash, he’d rushed forward, sword drawn, and he’d attacked Michael’s father. He’d hardly gotten more than one punch in and only had now alerted the rest to his presence when the front door to the apartment had opened and slammed shut.

Everyone froze on instinct, a beat passed, and then the table exploded into chaos. Ash did his best to get another punch into the side of Michael’s father’s face before rushing to where Michael had fallen on the ground, shoved by one of the people.

“Ash?” Michael mumbled while Ash tried to pick him up.

He’d gotten much heavier than he last remembered.

“It’s alright, Michael, I’m here.” He managed to stagger to his feet, and he was aware of his parents pushing the two of them towards cover behind a box left on the table.

They were halfway there when a shadow dropped over the table and everything lurched violently as the human slammed into the table. The only reason that Ash didn’t drop Michael was that his parents helped steady him and they made it behind the box.

Michael was on his lap, arms around his neck, and he had blood dripping down his face from his bloody nose. “Ash, you’re here.” He croaked.

“Sh, it’s alright.” He whispered, heart pounding in his throat as he realizes that his hook was over on the other side of the table, where the human currently was. “We’re gonna get you somewhere safe, I promise.”

They were shushed by their parents while the human shuffled around. Michael fell silent, and with a small moan, he fell unconscious.

Suddenly, they heard something that made their hearts stop.

“Michael? Where’d you go?”


	15. Intruders in the Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains: Mild sexual innuendo, swearing, angst time, someone being beaten up, things not actually advancing, this side of the story needed to be told.

“Sir, I think that you’ll need to hear this.”

Michael’s father lifted his head from his list as he was doing inventory from the latest group scavenge. “I’m busy, what’s it about?”

“Michael, sir.” The woman who had interrupted him looked nervous. “Someone spotted him on their supply run and they wanted to come forward about it.”

He threw the scrap of note pad and the pencil lead aside. “Who saw him?”

A young lady with short hair was carefully recounting where and when she had seen Michael.

“And you said you saw him when?”

“Nearly a month ago, sir.” She gulped.

“And why haven’t you come forward about this until now?”

“Because I wasn’t even sure it was him.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I only saw him for a second, and it was from the back. He didn’t even notice me. He was going out into the apartment a floor up, and he was approaching the table. I didn’t stay long, because, well… their kitten.”

He nodded and rose to his feet. After a second, he turned to the leader beside him. “Gather a search party.”

“Sir?”

“You heard me. Gather a search party. Tell them that we might be gone for a few days. We’re going to find Michael… or his corpse.”

He left in a hurry, gathering his climbing gear, extra food, and everything he would need for a long excursion. He wasn’t going to come back until he knew what had happened to Michael. There was so little of him that believed that Michael had survived on his own.

His survival skills had never been anything special. He had always been too caught up studying the humans. He wanted to know more about them than just their routines. He liked to be invested in their lives.

Humans were big, loud, and dangerous. There had never been anything more that they needed to learn than their routines.

Banishment thought like a fitting way to wash his hands of him. He would go somewhere far off and die.

Apparently he couldn’t even do that right.

Once the party was together, he told them what they were doing. At the least they knew which floor he was staying on. After a bit of debate, they had an idea of some place to check for any sign of his continued life.

“The apartment with the traps. He knows we’ve put a ban on going there. It’s the one place he could hide for this long.”

And that had settled that. They were going to check the place where the human with the traps and the poison lived. It was the best place for him to be hiding out in. If he’s survived all this time, it’s probably where he’s been living.

Sure enough, after a few hours of looking, they had found definitive proof that this was where Michael had been hiding all this time. A well worn path in the dust leading to and from the door, a tidy, cleaned interior, and a pantry with more food than any family in the colony had ever had at one time.

“This can’t be…. he sucks at scavenging.” One of the group spoke up, in utter disbelief.

“He does.” He could feel the rage boiling up inside of him. “He’s been taken for a damn pet!” And he tore down the curtain protecting Michael’s hoard.

—

Michael had just been reading one of the books that Jackie had given to him so he had something more than the endless carving of the ring he was trying to make.

Carving was good, and he liked doing it. It was just tedious and he needed something else for him to do or else he would go crazy and his arms would get stuck in the carving position forever.

So, he had been reading. It gave him something to do and it allowed him to have more topics to talk to Jackie about. It was kinda hard to though. Turning pages was a hassle, especially if he was left on a cliff hanger on the previous page, and he had to walk up and down the rows of text, making sure he hadn’t missed anything.

Jackie seemed to appreciate the effort though, and he loved to talk to Michael about books that he had read and wanted to share with him.

He had been in the middle of reading one of these books, a fantasy book about a boy and a dragon and a war and magic, when he heard a climbing hook scrape on the wood of the table. He glanced up and his heart stopped when he saw more hooks attach to the table and people from the colony started to climb up.

The moment they locked eyes on him, he jumped up from where he was lounging on the pages and tried to run.

He ran right into more people, and they grabbed him tightly. His heart was pounding in his throat as they held him by the arms tightly and made him face his father, the infamous scowl settled deep on his face.

“Michael, so you lived.”

“You’ve always had such good observational skills.”

His fist connected to Michael’s jaw. “We’ve been to your house. Your pantry was full to the brim. Now, unless the human here is deaf, blind, and stupid, you’ve been its little pet since you’ve left.”

Michael growled lowly. “I am _not_ a pet." 

"Liar!” Another punch. “You can’t scavenge worth anything. You’ve been getting fat and lazy as a pet for some damn human while we all starve.”

His shirt, too tight around his noticeably larger stomach, felt like it was choking him. “Maybe if you all had more than one collective brain cell, then you’d be able to eat to.”

There was another blow landed on the side of his face. “Have you been seen?”

Rage boiled up in Michael, and after a second, he spat in his father’s face. “Yes, I’ve been seen, but don’t you _dare_ call me a pet!”

“It’s a human, it’s only keeping you around for amusement.”

“Not just amusement.” He could taste blood. Maybe a tooth was knocked loose. “He’s great in bed. It’s amazing to top for a human.”

That’s when the real beating began. He was thrown into a circle they formed, and he tried to keep his hands up to protect his face. He could only see brief glances of faces before he was hit by something and sent stumbling. After a second, there was blood running down his face from his nose.

There was a loud shout, and Michael managed to stop stumbling for a second, leaning on the one foot that didn’t hurt. He looked up and saw Ash send his father down to the ground from a punch. Two people tried to grab him, but everyone froze when the front door slammed.

Jackie was home.

Someone pushed him as they ran for the hooks, and someone else kicked him before he could pick himself up. Michael lay on the ground for a moment, wheezing, when Ash appeared beside him and started to pick him up.

“Ash.” He tried to touch his face, see if this was real or not, but Ash directed his arms to be around his neck.

“It’s alright, Michael, I’m here.” He was rushing towards cover, carrying Michael in his arms. Ash’s parents were there too, and they were pushing them along.

He felt the table lurch, and he heard Jackie shout, but it just wasn’t registering. He was so tired. And Ash was here, like some kind of guardian angel.

 _I really need to stop getting into trouble so much._ He thought, burying his face into Ash’s chest. It was warm there, and it was familiar, and it was his size.

“Ash… you’re here.”

_And you saved me._

Ash shushed him as they got behind some cover. The box from Jackie’s care package from his older sister. “It’s alright. We’re gonna get you someplace safe. I promise.”

He wanted to say something about Jackie was safe, but his vision was fading and his tongue felt like lead. He maybe was able to mumble a syllable before he blacked out.


	16. What Happens Next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings/Notes:Swearing, putting tinies in jars, mild injuries, brain mean to person who has it, relationship angst

Jackie had been able to come home early because he had classes canceled. He’d gotten the text on the way to the final class he had for Fridays. The teacher had just randomly canceled it, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

And he had the weekends off now, at least until around summer training. He could hang with Michael, and he had more energy to do things with him.

The elevator was working, which was great news for his ankle, and he made it up to his apartment, shutting the door behind him less carefully than normal. “Michael, I’m-“

His eyes widened as he noticed something going on at the kitchen table, half out of his jacket. There was a bunch of Little Bits up there, and they scattered after a second. He rushed forward, eyes darting over the table. Michael was lying in a heap, and he thought he saw blood.

He slammed his hands down on the edge of the table, and they stumbled back, scattering around the table. He grabbed the threads trailing down from the side of his table and yanked them roughly out. He didn’t even care the hooks were bent as he tossed the handful of string aside.

Jackie started corralling the strange Little Bits into a group, pulling people over to a group near where he stood and keeping them in a loose circle with his hands. Once he’d gotten everyone he quickly glanced around to see if there was anything to contain them with.

He saw a large mason jar, empty and in the drying rack. It’d do for now.

Jackie tried to be quick as he stepped away from the table, and when he stepped back, he was unsurprised to see them try to scatter. He slammed the jar down over top of two people who were close together. They fell and he scraped them into the jar, flipping it upright.

The others were plucked up and dropped into the jar he was holding at an angle.

After a moment, the table was empty, and he glanced at the ones he’d caught. Five adults, three males, two females.

He grabbed a lid and screwed it on, setting the jar aside for the second, not enjoying the adrenaline buzzing through his blood. He carefully glanced back over the table, eyes scanning for his boyfriend. “Michael? Wh… where’d you go?”

There was nothing. It was like he vanished. Jackie knew that he hadn’t accidentally placed him in the jar, he’d checked faces. Jackie carefully touched the place he’d last seen Michael laying, and there was a little smudge of blood, hardly enough to cover his fingertip, and he felt overwhelming concern.

“Mike?” He glanced around at the floor, scared that he’d fallen. “A-are you okay? Where’d you go?” Biting his lip, Jackie started to move things around on the table, checking behind and under things. Soon all that was left was the jar and the care package box. “Michael, I… I didn’t mean to scare you… you were in trouble and I-”

Behind the box that the books from the care package had arrived in was three people, and they had Michael. The biggest male was blond, and he had Michael in his arms, taking timid steps away. There was a silver haired man who stared up in unabashed terror, and a woman who stood with a needle in her hands.

Jackie placed the box to the side, and he was unsure how he was supposed to proceed. He started to reach for them and the one carrying Michael dashed off. Jackie lunged, knocking the table, and he managed to scoop the other two up in one hand, a sting of pain made itself known, and he dumped both of them into his flannel shirt pocket.

After removing the needle from the base of his thumb, he reached for the one carrying Michael. He had stumbled and fallen, terror in his eyes as Jackie gathered the two of them up.

With a glare, he plucked Michael from the strange Little Bit’s grip and studied him carefully.

There was a bloody nose, and a little dribble of blood was from the corner of his mouth as well. And when Jackie lifted Michael’s shirt, he saw bruises. The little guy looked to be in worse shape than their first meeting. These bruises were fresh and angry.

“Oh Mike. We’ve really gotta stop meeting like this.” He started to bring Michael up to his lips to try and ease the nerves the Jackie felt, when he heard a terrified shout.

“Leave him alone!” Jackie glanced down and he saw the little blond guy squirming frantically in his grip. “Don’t you dare touch him, you monster!”

“What’s it to you?” Jackie tightened his grip a little, still careful to not crush the Little Bit.

“Put him down!” He pushed against the finger Jackie had against his chest with his one free arm. “Let go of me!” 

“And why should I? Your one of them, aren’t you?” He glanced towards the jar. “He’s told me why he got thrown out, beaten. I should toss you in there with the rest of them.”

“No!” He struggled harder, but there was almost nothing that it did against Jackie’s skin. “We are not one of them! My family and I were trying to save him from the stupid lynch mob, you - you brute!”

Jackie realized he could feel the two other Little Bits in his pocket, struggling. He would check on them, but both hands are full. “Listen, when Michael wakes up, he’ll pardon or condemn you, now, if you’ll excuse me.” He nudged his pocket open a little wider and stuck him inside.

“Bastard!” The Little Bit shouted as Jackie dropped down into the pocket. He patted it smooth and went to grab medical supplies from the bathroom, being as careful as he could with Michael.

After gathering up a few soft washcloths and the first aid kit, Jackie went back to the table. It had the best light.

—

It wasn’t a minute later when Jackie realized that there was no way he was going to be able to help Michael. He was too big, fingers far too clumsy. He tried dabbing the blood off Michael’s face with the corner of a cloth, but he couldn’t tell if it had done any good.

He folded up one of the cloths and set Michael on it, leaning back and breathing heavily. Jackie rubbed his neck awkwardly and then slammed his face into his hands. “ _Fuck!_ ” The swear came out almost like a bark. Michael needed someone his size to help him.

He glanced down into his shirt pocket and he saw the blond guy being consoled by the woman and the older guy. Jackie bit his lip and softly spoke up. “Would you… would you really help him?”

Three tiny nods.

He gently scooped them out and set them on the table, and he spoke softly so as to not frighten them anymore. “I’m… I’m too big to help him…. would you please help him?”

They nodded before the silver haired one turned and limped over to Michael, kneeling by him. He checked out the injuries as they were, whispering to the other two Little Bits. Jackie glanced down at his hands, concern growing in his chest.

_Did… did I do that? Did I squeeze his leg?_

As his mind went down that rabbit hole, staring at his hands in abject horror, Jackie found that there were more injuries sustained to himself than he thought.

Besides the little bead of blood from where the woman had stabbed him with the needle on the base of his thumb, he noticed there were other pinprick injuries, tiny stab wounds from Little Bits trying to defend themselves, and even across one of his palms a long, thin line that slowly oozed blood.

He glanced at the Little Bits trying to help Michael and he felt very guilty when he saw a thin line of blood against the woman’s back from where he grabbed them. It must have gotten on them when he grabbed them… in his fist.

Jackie glanced over at the jar, and saw the five of them feeling out the glass, testing its strength.

Michael was going to be _pissed_ when he woke up and saw what Jackie had done.

He carefully opened the medical kit, trying not to loom, and grabbed the triple antibiotic ointment and some small bandages. “If you guys need anything to help him, tell me.” He started to apply bandages to the little bleeding areas on his hands.

“I think the best he can do is rest.” The silver haired man spoke up. “He is bruised, but I do not think anything is broken.”

“That’s good.” He nodded, and his heart just felt heavier and heavier as he looked at what he had done. This was a gross abuse of his size…. but he was just trying to protect Michael. But what if he just crippled somebody who was actually trying to help?

_Fuck me…. I can’t believe I’m so fucking stupid._

“You guys… you guys could go now if you want to.”

—

Ash felt indignation of all things when he heard the human dismiss them. How dare he assume that he would abandon Michael again?

“I’m not leaving!” He got to his feet from where he had been kneeling by Michael. “I will not leave him again.”

“Ash.” His father grabbed his arm, pulling him in close to whisper in his ear. “This might be your only chance to warn somebody that we’ve been discovered. Get out of here. While you still can.”

“Then you go, I’m not leaving Michael.” Ash’s eyes did not leave the human, even though he had to turn his head to whisper back. Ash really didn’t like the guilty look on that human’s face.

“I need to stay to ensure Michael will be okay. Your mother will not leave as long as I’m within the reach of a human. You’ve got young legs, you must go.”

“The last time I left Michael like this, he became a pet for this human. Who knows what fate could befall him if I go again. There is nothing that can make me leave now.”

“Fine, then stay.” He pulled away and turned towards the human. “We will stay. I - I’m a healer. I need to assess the injuries again when he’s conscious and he can tell me what hurts.”

The human nodded and sunk down a little further in his chair. “Do you know when he’ll wake up?”

“I have no clue, but it shouldn’t be long. I think it was because of the emotional shock of everything happening at once. He seemed… surprised to see my son, not to mention so many things happened so fast I think it just overwhelmed him and he fainted.”

The human nodded and sunk down a little farther. He seemed worried. At least he cared about whether or not Michael was going to be okay.

But then again… humans really cared for their pets.

—

A few minutes had ticked by, and Jackie was doing everything he could to not just get mad at himself or the Little Bits he’d stuck in a jar.

He’d asked the Little Bits that were trying to help what had happened, and they told him what they’d seen, which was them beating the shit out of Michael. He was trying to not be mad and yell and throw things, because that was very easy to do and he didn’t want to be in a rage when Michael came to.

Jackie also knew he’d abused his size enough already. No need to make it worse.

He had his forehead resting on the table, scrolling through his phone underneath it, eager for a distraction. After a little while, he stuck the phone in his pocket and sat up. “What are your names?”

“Robert.” The Silver haired man spoke up. He’d been pacing around the table for a little while, tense, and giving the place where Jackie sat a wide girth, not wanting to get too close.

“Abby.” The woman sighed. She’d been cleaning off the two needles that belonged to the little family.

“Asher… though everyone calls me Ash for short.” The blond finally had uncurled from his little huddled position he’d taken up next to Michael.

Ash?

Oh no.

Oh _shit._

“Ash as in… Michael’s boyfriend from the colony?”

“The very same.” He squeezed Michael’s hand before looking up at Jackie. “Do you have a problem with that?”

_Oh fuckdammit!_

“No, I don’t have a problem with that… I’m into men too.” He sighed and sat back in his chair, rubbing his face. “Are any of y'all hungry? I can get you something.”

They gave him a nod, and Jackie started messing around in the cabinets, throwing something together for them.

This was _bad._ That was Ash. Michael’s ex-but-not-really boyfriend, and he’d manhandled him.

After Michael had told him the circumstances surrounding his banishment, he’d told him about Ash, and it had been very clear from his description of the guy that Michael still liked him, and now here he was, like a knight in shining freaking armor. Here to rescue Michael from the stupid giant who didn’t know how to control himself.

Michael had assured Jackie previously that what had happened between him and Ash in the past didn’t affect the way that Michael loved Jackie now. Michael told him that he knew he wasn’t going to be seeing Ash again, so it was okay, he was over him.

But Michael was not over him - at least, he still had feelings about him - and he was the right size and blond and handsome, while Jackie was a royal screw up who manhandles every Little Bit he sees. Michael was a rational being, if he had the chance to get with Ash again, he would definitely leave Jackie.

 _He_ should _leave me. It’ll be safer that way._ He thought while he grabbed bread out of the cabinet. _I’m such a fuck up. I’m too big._

Jackie put his head against the cabinet, thoughts racing and heart hurting, taking deep breaths to stop himself from crying. If Michael wanted to go, be with someone his own size, Jackie wasn’t going to stop him. He’d just have to let him go.

Even though it hurts.


	17. Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains: Mild injuries, scary giant time, mentions of hurting someone on purpose, Jackie toying with a jerk tiny, swearing, I think I’m forgetting something

Michael awoke to the taste of blood in his mouth and a killer headache. He slowly sat up and groaned at the light over him.

“Michael!”

“Ash?” He glanced towards the voice and, sure enough, there sat Ash, with his needle-sword beside him, smiling like an idiot. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re okay!” He was hugged tightly and Michael’s ribs told him how unhappy they were with being bruised yet again, though much less bruised than last time. Just a few little spots that hurt.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Ash released him and backed away. “I was worried.” He leaned in close and whispered into Michael’s ear. “We’re going to bargain for your freedom, don’t worry.”

“My freedom, what do you mean?” Michael pulled away.

“The human, we can probably strike some kind of bargain for your freedom.”

“Jackie? You think Jackie is – oh God no!” Michael laughed, ignoring the flair up. “He’s not – I’m not his pet. I can go whenever I want to.”

“Then why-?”

“Because I enjoy his company.” Michael glanced over towards where the chair is normally positioned and saw Jackie with his back turned to them, putting something together in the kitchen. “He’s actually pretty nice, you know.”

He felt a hand on his arm and whipped around, only to pause at seeing both of Ash’s parents kneeling by his other side. “How are you feeling?”

“Like my head’s been bounced off of a crossbeam and I’ve been kicked in the ribs, but other than that, peachy.”

Ash’s father started to look over his injuries and he carefully asked him how he was feeling, does this hurt, and did that hurt, etcetera.

After a minute, Jackie turned back to the table, with a plate in hand, and a grin broke out over his lips. “Michael, you’re awake!”

Jackie set down a cup and the plate and carefully scooped Michael up into his hands. “Hey, you big lug.” Michael found himself carefully held to Jackie’s chest. “You, uh, sure know how to make an entrance.”

“I’m sorry.” Jackie whispered, voice vibrating through Michael, and he felt a finger gently rubbing up and down his back. “I should have got home sooner. I could have stopped a lot of this from happening.”

“Don’t blame yourself. You didn’t cause anything.” Michael made eye contact with him. “If anything, you stopped this from getting any worse. You did okay, I swear.” He gave his chest a reassuring pat before Jackie lowered him back down to the wash cloth.

“Right, uh, I got something for you guys to eat if any of y’all were hungry.” Jackie nudged the plate forward before sitting back to give them some space.

“Are you hungry?” Michael held his hand out to Ash. “I promise you, he’s got good stuff.”

Ash timidly took his hand and then they moved over towards the plate, interested parents in tow. There was indeed some good stuff. Bit of trail mix, half a PB&J, other things.

Michael had gotten side tracked, however, when he saw one of the enormous mason jars that Jackie normally used for storage sitting on the table, his father and the rest of the search party trapped inside. They were sitting down, facing where Jackie was sitting, wary.

“You caught them, holy shit!” Michael started to laugh, and Jackie looked concerned, if not a little disturbed.

“Are you okay?” Jackie softly bit his lip.

“I am perfectly fine.” Michael gave Jackie a thumbs up. “You just caught the people who made my life at the colony a living hell. Thank you, Jackie.“

Jackie shifted his arms, crossing them over his chest, glancing away. "We’ll decide what to do with them later. You’re the victim, it’s your call.” Michael felt the table shake in the way that meant Jackie was bouncing his leg.

“What’s your plan for them?” Ash whispered to Michael, tearing off a hunk of the sandwich and smushing it to a more manageable size.

“Dunno, but my Dad is not walking away without being terrified within an inch of his life.” Michael had a slightly demented smile on his face. “Bastard has made my life hell, I should at least be able to give him a good scare as payback.”

—

The four of them had gone over the plan with Jackie, who agreed, albeit reluctantly. They weren’t going to hurt anyone, just scare the crap out of them, and make sure they know to leave this apartment alone.

“Okay, bring father dearest out.” Michael crossed his arms, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. 

Jackie reached down into the jar and he plucked the squirming man out that Michael indicated and placed him at the outside base of the jar. “Sit.” He growled when the little man tried to get up.

Michael’s father shook as he slumped back to a seat.

“Not so tough now, huh?” Michael sneered.

“You’re only tough because you have a human at your beck and call.” Michael’s father whispered.

Jackie reached for the little man, and he shut up with a squeak. Jackie pulled his hand back and continued to loom.

“So, what should we do with this guy?” Ash put his hands on his hips. “He _did_ make our lives living hell.”

“Hmn…. we could break his hand. Maybe a foot.” Michael snapped his fingers. “He’s fucked up my ribs a couple of times. We could mess up his ribs.”

“Yeah, but those heal.” Ash crossed his arms.

“Yes, but they hurt like hell in the mean time.”

Their nerve started to waver, though, as it sank in what they were doing. They were threatening someone with their worst fear. Being hurt by a human. They saw the sweat on his brow and how he was shaking a little.

Ash and Michael exchanged glances. “Jackie, just get him out of here.” Michael mumbled and turned away, taking a few steps for some difference. Ash followed, taking Michael’s hand. “He knows to not come back here.”

—

Jackie didn’t quite hear what Michael had just said, but he’d seen the both of them turn away. They were done with intimidating him.

Alright. It’s his turn. Not that it had even been agreed that Jackie would even have a turn. He just wanted to get his hands on this little bastard.

_Don’t hurt him, just scare. Don’t hurt, just scare._

He reached forward and plucked the little man up by the back of his shirts. His mantra of ‘don’t hurt, just scare’ faded and his mind was very clear as he watched the little man dangle over the sizable drop to his lap.

“So… you’re the bastard that threw him out. Made his life hell.”

He squirmed with fear.

“I should thank you for introducing me to Micael, but I’m pissed, so.” He shrugged and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up in other chair. “You’re going to regret ever laying a hand on Michael.”

After that, Jackie shut his mouth. Nothing was scarier than a silent predator when you were stuck in its grasp.

Jackie turned the struggling man this way an that, inspecting his thin frame. As thin as he was, Michael had been much, much thinner and not to mention injured when they first met.

Injured because of this _bastard._

Jackie dropped him into his other palm and closed his finger around him for a long moment, just feeling how small the body was in comparison, before starting to fiddle with his little body.

It wasn’t like a pen he could twirl around his fingers. That would cause too much damage. He had to settle for gently pinching limbs and manipulating them to what he felt like. He considered it two birds with one stone. He got to be able to study a Little Bit and he was scaring that crap out of someone he felt deserve it.

After Jackie got bored at that, he hefted his weight. Michael was heavier now, but the weight didn’t matter. He still had something to do.

He tossed Michael’s father into the air, catching his little body easily in his other hand. He did that a few times, always tossing from his left hand to his right. He was being careful to not accidentally drop the him. He doubted that Little Bits could survive the fall to the floor.

Jackie wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, he just wanted to give this homophobe a good scare.

After Jackie felt like he was pushing the limits of his coordination and his luck, he caught him in his right palm and then pinched his waist between two fingers on his left hand, hauling him up.

Jackie studied the little man for a hot minute, he was scared, but nothing to really seal the deal on leaving this place alone, permanently.

He tilted his head back a bit, lifting the little man over his face, and opened his mouth.

The little bit screamed and squirmed, clutching at his fingers. Jackie let him dangle there for a few minutes, squirming and struggling before sitting back up and lowering the Little Bit to about chest level, uncaring that he was squirming.

“I’ll let y’all go, but if I see another one of you in my home, or I’ve heard that you’ve laid another hand on Michael, or Ash, or Ash’s family, I swear to God it will be the last thing you ever do, am I clear?”

A shaky nod from the terrified Little Bit.

“Good. Now, get the fuck out of my house.” He leaned down and dropped Michael’s father on the ground, nudging him once he released his grip on them. “Vamoose.”

He took the jar and unscrewed the lid, leaning back down and sliding the Little Bits out of the jar onto the ground.

“Out, all of you.”

They scattered quickly. Jackie sighed, feeling exhausted from having to play the evil human Michael told him that Little Bits feared.

Jackie slowly got to his feet. He picked up the hooks that had been left behind and he set them on the table. “Apologies.” Jackie turned and walked into his room, shutting the door softly behind him, leaving them alone. He didn’t want to see what they were going to do.

He didn’t want to know if Michael was leaving him.


	18. Bonus Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Scary giant, Jackie messing w/ Michael’s father from the other’s perspective, Relationship angst.

Ash and Michael exchanged glances. “Jackie, just get him out of here.” Michael mumbled and turned away, taking a few steps for some distance. Ash followed, taking Michael’s hand. “He knows to not come back here.”

Ash softly squeezed Michael’s hand. “Are you okay?”

“M’ fine.” He sighed.

Jackie leaned forward and grabbed Michael’s father up by the back of his clothes, lifting him up off the table. He sat back in his chair and dangled the little guy over his lap.

“So… you’re the bastard that threw him out. Made his life hell.” Jackie rumbled softly. “I should thank you for introducing me to Michael, but I’m pissed so.” He shrugged. “You’re going to regret ever laying a hand on Michael.”

Ash’s father, Robert, grabbed Michael by the shoulders. “What is he doing?!”

“I don’t know.” Michael looked up at Jackie, who dropped the Little Bit into his other palm and was softly squeezing him. “I – I just don’t – I don’t think we should worry.”

“Not worry?” He glanced up and his face went a shade paler. “Michael, how much do you trust this human?”

“I trust him with my life, Mr. Johnson.” He whispered back. “Jackie won’t hurt anyone.”

He was spun around and he saw Jackie fiddling with his father’s arms. He squirmed and tried to pull his arms away, but Jackie had a very tight grip on him. Michael’s heart clenched tightly as he saw Jackie pushing and prodding at one shoulder.

Michael shook his head a little. Jackie wouldn’t hurt a Little Bit, he just couldn’t. He was a very gentle guy. There’s no way he’d actually cripple someone.

Right?

“S-stop! Let go!” They could hear Michael’s father cry out with fear. “Stop! You’re gonna break it!”

“What have we done?” Ash’s mother, Abby, whispered, voice laden with horror. “He’s going to kill him.”

“N-no!” Michael whipped around to face them, trying to ignore the fear in his chest. “Jackie would never hurt someone like that.”

“Michael, it looks like he’s going to tear his arm off!” Ash hissed. “Don’t tell me he wouldn’t. He’s _human!”_

“Just because he’s human doesn’t mean he’d _do that!_ ” Michael’s throat was tight. He knew that Jackie was a good person. He wasn’t violent. He wouldn’t tear someone apart, but it was pretty hard to watch him tug at someone like that, with that scowl on his face.

The four of them fell into a stunned silence while Jackie hefted Michael’s father, and then tossed the Little Bit into the air.

Jackie managed to catch him, but it made even Michael shut up.

He didn’t want to believe that Jackie would hurt anybody, but it was hard to watch.

That power and that bulk had always been on Michael’s side, but it was too easy to see himself or Ash or his family trapped into those hands, being carelessly thrown into the air.

_Please know what you’re doing. Please tell me you aren’t going to hurt him._

The four of them didn’t feel any better watching Jackie threaten to _eat_ Michael’s father, and Ash was trying to not shake as Jackie released the others. Their climbing ropes were down on the floor. It wasn’t a stretch of the imagination for them to be gathered up in those hands next and tortured.

Michael had a little whine stuck in his throat as Jackie let out a deep sigh and got to his feet. “Jackie.” He took a step forward, breaking free of Ash and his family. “Jackie, i-is everything alright?”

Jackie didn’t hear, he’d stooped down and scooped up the climbing hooks, barely casting a glance before he set them down.

“Apologies.” Jackie mumbled before turning away, heading for his bedroom.

Jackie looked hurt. Guilty. He shoved his hands out of sight as soon as the hooks were set down.

It killed Michael’s fear after a second.

“Jackie, wait!” Michael took a few steps forward. “Jackie!”

The door shut.

“Michael, let’s go.” Ash grabbed Michael’s arm. “C’mon. Before he gets back.”

“No!” He pulled away. “He wasn’t- he thinks he pushed too far. I – I need to go.“ He started to pull his hook and climbing rope out of his bag.

“Did you see what he just did?” Robert had a white knuckle grip on the strap of his bag. “He was toying with someone our size. We need to go back into the walls.”

“Only because _we told him to.”_ Michael shook his head. “Didn’t you see the guilt on his face? The way he was walking on eggshells? He’s guilty because he did what we told him to. He knew that Ash and I had absolutely failed at intimidating that prick, so he did what we wanted him to, and he feels really guilty.”

Michael started to climb down, trying to be careful to not put much weight on his injured leg. It didn’t hurt that much, just the ankle was a little sore.

Once he was on the floor, he headed for the bedroom, intent on comforting his friend. He’d deal with Ash’s family later. He had to make sure that Jackie was okay.

—

“Jackie?”

The human had to not jump when he heard his name from a very soft voice. He was sitting with the back to the door, hating himself for being so big and so stupid.

“Michael?” His voice was unexpectedly choked as he glanced down to spot the source of the noise. Michael had squeezed himself under the door and was brushing himself off. Jackie cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m coming to see how you’re feeling, dummy.” Michael scoffed softly and then approached where Jackie had one hand pressed into the carpet. “You looked upset when you left. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Jackie pulled his hand up in his lap. “I’m fine. I just thought you’d want a little space after….”

_After I tossed somebody your size around like a ragdoll._

“What?” Michael crossed his arms. “After you scared the shit out of someone who’s been tormenting me? After you made sure that your home and the people you love would be safe?”

“Well, yeah, but-“

“But no.” Michael waved his hands. “Jackie, I am not scared of you. When will you learn that?”

Jackie shrugged. “I dunno. It just… it felt so good to be toying with that jerk and then… you know… I realized ‘hey, dumbass, you’re toying with someone the size of your boyfriend and he’s watching all of this, don’t you look like the biggest monster to ever walk the face of this planet?’”

Michael sighed dramatically. “Jackie, you forget, I _wanted_ you to do that. Ash and I are many things, but intimidating is not ever near the ballpark of that. He would have been back in my house and probably would have killed me if you hadn’t stepped in.”

Jackie was staring at the carpet, and then he glanced over at Michael. “You’re not…. You’re not worried that I could snap and do that to you?”

“Oh for the love of - no.” Michael shook his head and started to get closer. “I love being close to you, and your hands are nothing but safety to me.” He paused and then grabbed a handful of his pants. “And I’ll prove it to you, you big baby.”

“Mike, please don’t-“

Michael hauled himself up onto Jackie’s thigh, and from there he crawled up onto Jackie’s stomach. Jackie didn’t allow himself to breathe while the little man settled in the middle of his huddle, completely surrounded and completely vulnerable to him.

“Jackie, look at me.”

Jackie slowly glanced over at Michael.

“Look at me. I am not. Afraid. Of you.” Michael gestured around, showing how small he was in comparison to Jackie’s body. “You could have probably _actually_ eaten my father and I would still be right here, telling you that I am not afraid of you.”

“What about Ash? His family?”

"Forget them.” Michael sat down, placing his hands on Jackie’s stomach. “It doesn’t matter what they think. _I_ know the real you. I _know_ you’re harmless. I know you were just trying to protect me. I love you, Jackie. This doesn’t change that.”

Jackie covered his face, groaning softly. “Michael, you have a perfect boyfriend waiting for you, safe, in the walls, away from me. I know you-” He paused mid word when he felt Michael touch his neck.

The little guy climbed up his chest and had buried his face into Jackie’s neck. “Jackie. _I love you._ I need you to know this. Ash and I will talk over what we’re going to do from here, but I am not going to leave you. I love you too much.”

“Oh.”


	19. Settling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings

Michael was cleaning up his work room when Ash hugged him from behind. "I'm so glad you're alive, Michael." He could feel him nuzzle the back of his neck. 

"I'm glad you and your family are doing okay." He gently pushed him back, facing him with arms crossed over his chest. 

"Why are you upset? We can be with each other again. They wouldn’t dare come up here now. We’re safe to be together." Ash took a step forward, arms outstretched to hug him. 

"It'll be like nothing changed, but we don't have to hide and there's food and-"

"Things have changed, Ash." He bit his lip as he put his palm against his chest to not let him hug him. How is he going to tell it to him gently?

"What do you mean?"

Maybe he should just tell it to him straight. Well... tell it to him gay.

"I'm seeing someone else." 

Ash looked like he'd been shocked. "You're - but..... who?"

"Jackie." He gestured vaguely up to the floor above their heads. "I am dating Jackie."

"A..... you're dating the human!" He took a small step back. "A-are you insane?"

"Not just a human. Jackie. I love him, Ash." Michael hugged himself. "And I thought that we were never going to see each other again, so I had.... started to develop feelings for the big lug."

"Did you reveal yourself to him?" 

"N-no. No. I didn't mean to be seen. I had been caught in one of the traps, and he found me-"

"You were caught in a trap!" Ash’s hands covered his mouth. “Were you hurt?”

“No. I’m fine. It was just a glue trap. He didn’t mean to catch me.” Michael turned his back to Ash, placing his tools back in order on the bench. “He let me go, asking if I was alright, he’s been giving me food and attention and he saved me from a spider.”

“Michael, I – I wanted to be with you. There wasn’t a day that had gone by that I hadn’t thought of you.” There was a noticeable hurt in his voice. “And you… you moved on.”

“I didn’t ‘move on,’ Ash.” Michael turned around and saw Ash rubbing his arm. “I still love you. I still have feelings for you. But… I love Jackie too.” He carefully grabbed Ash’s hands. “There’s just a lot going on, and… I love you still, but I don’t want to leave Jackie.”

“I understand.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I mean… he’s a human. You like big guys…. I’m not… how can I compete with that?”

“God you’re so stupid.” Michael hugged him tightly. “I’m not that shallow. I love him because he’s a good person, Ash, the same reason I fell in love with you. Things are just… weird right now. I think we all just need a little time to think things through and figure out what we’re gonna do.” 

Ash hugged him back, sighing deeply. “Yeah things are weird.” A small chuckle left him. “I mean, I leave you alone for a few months and suddenly you’re dating a human of all things.” 

“Yeah, you can imagine how weird things are between us, with the size difference and all.” Michael slowly pulled back and sat down on one of his stools by the table. “Imagine how freaky it is to share a meal with a human.”

Ash shuddered and sat on another stool, running his fingers through his blond hair. “Humans are terrifying enough to watch eat from a distance, I cannot imagine what it’s like up on the table with one.”

“I’ve kind of gotten used to it.” Michael shrugged and went back to carving. “It’s not so scary after a couple meals.”

“And I think you’ve shared more than a couple of the human’s meals. I mean, look at you.” Ash moved the stool over to the bench and wrapped an arm around Michael’s waist, his hand settling on his stomach. “You’ve gotten a belly.”

Michael pried his hand off. “I’m sensitive. Hands off.”

“And I helped you repair your pantry, so I know just how much you’re eating.” Ash crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. “You’re spoiled.”

“Yeah, are you jealous?” Michael watched him out of the corner of his eye while he continued to carve on the little bit of wood. “With all the extra food and the gut and everything.”

“Maybe a little.” Ash shrugged. “So, do you just ask him or does he just give food to you?”

“We’ve got a little system set up so I’m not completely dependent.” Michael shrugged. “I can take as much as I want when he cooks or gets food out, but if not, there’s a container he’s set up on the counter that has things in there for me to take. I’ve got a couple of days’ worth of meals stored, so I’m not going to starve if he forgets to fill it up, which he never has.”

“Hmn. And you don’t climb as much either?”

“Nope.” Michael shrugged. “There’s not as much as a need to scavenge. If I need to go somewhere and we’re just hanging out, then he can pick me up and take me somewhere. Plus, I’ve learned to just ask him if I need something inconsequential.” 

“Wow…. Must be nice to have a human willing to help you out.” Ash rubbed his arms. “But don’t you worry he thinks of you as a pet?”

“Nope.” Michael glanced over. “Hand me that tool, will you…. Thanks.” He continued with the project. “I did once kinda mention it to him one night; that I had been terrified when we first met he had wanted me to be some kind of pet… He was revolted over the idea.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He made sure to make sure I knew that he didn’t think that, that he had never thought that.” Michael continued to carve and the companionable silence stretched out. Ash polished his needle and after a while they had some lunch. 

\---

“Here, try some of this.” Michael peeled some of a silver shiny wrapper off of a hunk of chocolate. “I think you’ll really like it.”

Ash felt a little conflicted as Michael pulled things out of his repaired pantry that he thought Ash would like. It was clear that Michael liked this human, Jackie, but Ash still really liked Michael.

What were they going to do to fix this?

What if the human didn’t like that Michael had feelings for Ash?

“Ash, you still here?” Michael waved his hand in front of his face. “You’ve spaced out on me.”

“Right, sorry, what are you feeding me?”

“A bit of everything.” Michael sat down with him, and there was quite a spread. “Trust me, this stuff is delicious.” 

They really needed to come up with a solution, or Ash’s heart was going to explode with longing. Michael's too. He didn't want to have to choose.


	20. Discussion and Compromise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For those who also see me on Tumblr, I will post this up there later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains: Little relationship angst but its brief, and that’s it

They had eventually decided that they should just talk to Jackie. Have the three of them sit down and talk about it like adults. So, here they sat.

Jackie was sitting in his chair, fiddling with the class ring that had been returned to the bathroom counter. He hadn't seemed to notice the scratch that had happened the day he met Ash, or if he did, he hadn't said anything. Michael was sitting cross-legged on the edge of a book, and Ash was nervously bouncing his leg as he sat next to Michael.

Michael was explaining the situation from their perspective in full to Jackie, who had a kind of blank (if sad) look on his face. Ash was fully having to resist to grab Michael’s hand to calm himself down, so he just grabbed his own leg. 

“So, yeah… that’s why we wanted to sit down and talk about this with you.” Michael awkwardly clasped his hands together in his lap. “It was probably best that we all go over what…. You know… what we wanted to do?”

Jackie nodded slowly. “Thank you for deciding to talk it out with me.” He sighed softly. “But it seems like a fairly simple solution.”

“Oh?”

Jackie carefully reached out and placed his hand next to Michael, one fingertip lightly resting on his head. “You deserve to be with someone who can be with you properly. If you want to be with Ash, be with him. It’s alright.” He gently ruffled Michael’s hair and then Jackie started to pull away. 

“Wait, no!” Michael jumped off the book and grabbed his hand, nearly being pulled off his feet. “But I still love you. I don’t want to let you go….” An embarrassed flush covered his face as he realized how clingy this looked. “There’s got to be something that will make everyone happy.”

Jackie carefully picked Michael up between two fingers and set him back on the book. “Okay, okay. We’ll think of something else.” He rubbed the back of his neck and then carefully studied Michael under that brown eyed gaze. “This is gonna sound kinda cheesy, but… you’ve got two hands don’t you, Michael?” 

“Yeah.”

Jackie bit his lip and glanced over at Ash. “Would you be willing to share?” 

“Share?”

“Yeah. Like… there’s nothing that says that it isn’t possible to date two people at the same time.” Jackie shrugged. “It’s 2019. We support the poly people.” He was blushing. It was hard to tell with his darker complexion, but it was clear as day to Michael. “I, uh, experimented in with a few people at the same time before. It went pretty okay.”

Ash looked over at Michael. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “I’d be more than willing to share if it makes Michael happy.”

“Awesome, so… that’s that.” Jackie carefully brushed his fingertip against Michael’s shoulder. “Are you guys hungry? It’s been getting kinda cold out, so I was thinking I could do some kind of stew if that’s alright.” 

“That sounds amazing, Jackie.” 

“Awesome.” He got to his feet. “You want to come with me or stay with Ash on the table or what?”

“I’ll stay on the table with Ash.” Michael took the blond man’s hand. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

With a nod, Jackie vanished into the kitchen. 

Ash practically melted against Michael after Jackie left. “That was one of the most terrifying things I’ve had to do.” 

“Up there with the cat?” Michael ran his fingers through Ash’s hair as he got comfortable leaning against Michael’s chest. 

“Yeah, right up there with the cat.” He sighed deeply and snuggled a little more into him. “How are you able to function out here in the open with him around all the time?”

“You just kinda… get used to it.” A little bit of dust was carefully worked out of Ash’s blond hair. “I love him, a lot, and he just-- he’s a lot to take in, but he’s very sweet. Very gentle.” 

Ash hummed thoughtfully and then buried his face into his chest. “Forgive me for being hesitant to believe that. He’s still really big.”

“Yeah.” Michael hummed. “You know, he’s huge, even for a human.”

“You joke.” Ash sat up a little. 

“Nope. Have you seen how he fills a doorway? He’s enormous.” Michael weaved his fingers between Ash’s, noting the differences in his more brown skin tone compared to Ash’s pale skin. “You know, I’ve been out with him a couple of times - he lets me go places with him if I want to – and I’ve seen how big he is when compared to other humans. Enormous.” 

“Know the exact numbers?” 

“Six foot… six?” Michael thought for a minute. “Yeah, he’s six foot six, give or take an inch.” 

Ash shook his head. “He’s six _feet_ taller than us if you climbed on my shoulders.” 

“I’m a little under three and a half inches, you’re a little above three and a half, so, yeah, Jackie’s about six feet bigger than us.” 

“Actually. We’ve been able to get our hands on a ruler.” Ash stated matter-of-factly. “I am three point seven inches.”

“Really?” Michael raised an eyebrow. “I think Jackie has a ruler somewhere. We can probably get a precise measurement for me, and then we’ll know for sure.” 

“You’re still crazy, you know.” Ash gently kissed the back of Michael’s hand. “Dating a human. Probably the biggest human in the building.” 

“Yeah. I know. I love him.” Michael stifled a chuckle. 

\---

Ash had eaten with two of them. He kept his eyes away from Jackie, only because the noises were quite disturbing, and he didn’t want to lose his appetite. 

Michael had kept up a conversation with Jackie throughout most of the meal, and after the dishes had been cleared away, Jackie had offered tv. Michael gladly agreed. 

Ash was very awkward as he watched Michael sit on Jackie’s palm. He didn’t want to feel like he was intruding with Jackie and Michael, but at the same time, he really wanted to be with Michael. He just got the ability to spend time with him again.

“You coming, Ash?”

“Uh, well, uhm, I should probably get going. I need to check with my parents.” He rubbed his neck and then pulled out his climbing hook. Ash looked up at Jackie and took a second to find his words. “Thank you for the meal, Jackie, I’ll be going now.”

“Okay. I’ll see you around, Ash.” The human gave him a soft smile and then went to go lay on the couch, grabbing the remote from the end table. 

This was going to be an experience, sharing his boyfriend with a human. A _really_ big human.


	21. Adjusting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter you'll see Michael embody the thoughts of the writer who needs to move the plot along because holy crap does this story take forever.
> 
> Warning: Mentions of a cat trying to eat a borrower, but nothing else

They had been able to work something out that was comfortable for everyone. The three of them were content with sharing. 

Ash was half living with Michael now, so the two of them had the mornings (and sometimes afternoons) to themselves as Jackie was doing classes. They'd go scavenge and Michael would work on the ring and they'd talk. 

The ring was coming alone nicely, if Michael would like to say so himself. Ash would sit with him in the work room and repair his bag or hook or clothes, anything that he could do with his hands.

After Jackie got home, Michael mostly stayed with him. They'd talk into the night, share dinner, those kinds of things. 

There was an obvious problem with this though, and it was clear as day to Michael. Ash was still scared of Jackie, and Jackie was still nervous around Ash. He didn't blame them, they were pretty much strangers to each other. They just needed to get a little more familiar with each other. 

Michael was trying to think on how he was going to be getting the two of them to spend time together while he sat on top of the food container while Jackie made dinner. It was rice and broccoli with cheese sauce tonight. Jackie's phone sat nearby, playing music softly while Michael was in thought. 

If only it was possible to just shove them together and hope they make nice. 

He was brought out of thought when he felt someone touch his arm, whirling around to see who it was since Jackie was busy cutting up vegetables. Ash was holding onto his elbow, looking paler than usual and a little disheveled. 

"What's wrong?" Michael grabbed his arm back. "What happened? You're not hurt, are you?" 

He shook his head. "Cat."

"Cat?"

"Cat." Ash nodded. "I was scavenging i-in the neighbor's apartment and t-the stupid cat nearly got me." 

Michael's eyes widened. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"No. I'm not hurt. It just scared the crap out of me and tore a hole in my bag." He shuddered and climbed up onto the food container beside Michael, dumping the ruined bag at their feet. "Here was closer than home. I need to calm down before I go to face my parents with no haul and a ruined bag."

Michael nudged the bag with his toe. The body had been ripped open and the cloth strap had been stretched and slightly torn. The body was fixable with a patch, but he'd need to do some serious work on the handle if it was going to be usable in the near future.

"Are you sure that the only thing that got hurt was the bag?" Michael carefully inspected Ash with squinted eyes. "And that you didn't get hurt?"

"Yeah. I'm sure I'd know if the cat clawed me." Ash jumped slightly as Jackie cursed, pulling his hand back away from the cutting board. 

"Are you alright, Jackie?" Michael piped up. 

"Yeah, I should be alright." Jackie inspected one of his fingers carefully. "Looks like it slipped off the fingernail - thank goodness - but I'll know if it starts bleeding in a second." He glanced over, placing his still-not-sure-if-it-was-okay finger into a towel. "Oh, hey Ash."

"Hey." His voice was soft, even for Ash. 

"What'cha doin' out here?" He bent down a little to get on a more even level with them. "You okay? You look pale."

"Near death experience with a cat." Ash whispered, gripping Michael's hand tightly. 

Michael sighed and put an arm around his shoulders and whispered into his ear. "It's alright. You know Jackie, he isn't going to hurt you." He squeezed him tightly. "I know the cat's shaken you, but Jackie's won't hurt you."

Ash cleared his throat and spoke loud enough for the human to hear. "I was out scavenging, and the neighbor's cat nearly got me."

"Oh." Jackie bit his lower lip for a second. "You're not hurt, are you?" 

"I'm fine, but I'm just a little.... freaked out."

Jackie nodded. "Understandable. Are you gonna stay for dinner?" He raised an eyebrow. 

"Yeah. Sure." Ash straightened up a little. "What are you making?"

Jackie checked his hand and once he was sure there wasn't a cut, he went back to chopping vegetables. "Broccoli and rice and cheese sauce." 

"Sounds good."

\---

Dinner was finally ready. Ash was perched near the side of the plate, stocking his bag with rice while he nibbled on a piece of broccoli. "This is actually really good." Ash dipped the shred of broccoli in the cheese sauce and took another bite. 

"Then tell him." Michael gestured with a piece of rice to the human that was absently poking a piece of broccoli into a pool of cheese sauce. "He’ll appreciate it."

"Uhm, Jackie?" 

Jackie glanced over towards them, eyebrow quirked. "Hm?"

"Uh, the food is really good."

"Thanks." He smiled softly before going back to his portion of the meal. 

“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Michael gently nudged his arm. “You’ll get used to him eventually. Believe me when I say that Jackie isn't anything more than a big sweetheart." 

Ash pushed back on him, lightly blushing. “Oh shut up.” 

After a little while, after they'd had their fill, Jackie was scrubbing the dishes. Ash was sitting near the sink, watching this human with an intense curiosity. There was such power in his movements, yet he had never really seen them used against anything that didn't deserve it. There was only a small taste of what he was capable of when he had been messing with Michael's father, but he still never even got hurt. Jackie hadn't hurt him, even though he was mad.

Michael always seemed so content in the human's hands. Comfortable. Ash squinted at Jackie's hands, running a sponge round and around one of the pots. He didn't quite see the appeal. 

It would probably feel like laying on warm leather. And that was without the dread that would undoubtedly come from laying so close to those enormous fingers that could snap shut on him. 

He let his eyes run up Jackie's arm and to his chest, where Michael was napping in the shirt pocket. If he hadn't seen Michael slip into the pocket, he would barely notice that he was in there. That fold in the cloth could be from anything, but it was from their shared boyfriend. 

"Need something, Ash?" Jackie asked quietly. 

"No. Not really." Ash tilted his head. "I just find it interesting that you can just pocket our boyfriend. Like... that's a whole person that just looks like a fold in the cloth of your shirt." 

"Yeah. I'm awfully big." Jackie nodded slightly. "But it's also kind of a good thing I can carry Michael around without anyone seeing him. He does like to go out with me. I'd hate to have to stop doing that with him because some other human would see him."

Oh. So he was aware how scary he was. 

Interesting.


	22. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of content, here's Jackie and Ash getting to know each other. I hope you enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No content warning needed, I think

Michael had finally been able to arrange Ash and Jackie to spend some time together. So, Michael was in their home, taking a nice long rest on the bed. (But in all reality, he was probably still carving that ring.)

So there Ash sat while Jackie was finishing up with the frosting for the cupcakes that were cooling nearby. 

"What color?" Jackie asked as he rummaged through a stained plastic container. 

"Hm?" Ash was pulled out of his thoughts from where he was thinking about how humans had an obsession with sugar. 

"I'm going to color the frosting, what color do you want?"Jackie continued to go through the container. "I've got pink, blue, purple, black, orange, blue... lots of colors." He held the bucket out and Ash saw a bunch of brightly colored tubes inside, filled with liquid. 

"Uhm.... I like blue." 

Jackie nodded and he added a few dark blue drops into the bowl and continued mixing. "So, Ash, do you want to check and see if the cupcakes are finished cooling?" 

Ash nodded and got to his feet and went over to the cooling rack. He didn't feel any heat coming off the cupcakes so he climbed up on the wire rack and placed his hand on the chocolate cupcake. It was slightly warm to the touch. 

"Still a little warm, but they're not hot." 

"Awesome." Jackie stuck a clean toothpick into the frosting and then set it in his mouth. "And the frosting is ready, man I'm good with timings." He tossed the toothpick into the garbage and then starting rummaging through the drawers for something. "So, Ash, I dunno if you'll be able to actually physically frost a cupcake, but you could help with decoration still." 

"How?" These cupcakes were still nearly as big as he was, and that was before Jackie slathered them with frosting. 

"Sprinkles." He set another small bucket on the counter and then pulled out a few smaller containers that were filled with these brightly colored 'sprinkles.' "I'll let you have full rein on that." 

"Uhm, okay?" He hopped off the cooling rack as Jackie started to reach over. He didn't want to accidentally be mistaken for one of the cupcakes. That'd be messy at best, and terrifying at worst.

Ash wandered over towards the frosting bowl so he could see what was going on better. He could practically feel Jackie's eyes on him. He was trying, for Michael, to try and get used to the enormous human, but it was still unnerving to be out in the open and under that gaze.

"How'd you guys meet?" Jackie asked, and it pulled Ash out of his thoughts. 

"Oh, me and Michael?"

"Yeah, how did you guys meet?"

"We grew up together in the colony." Ash shrugged. "Several generation have been born and raised there. We're just one of the latest. Everyone helps out in raising the kids, teaching them stuff and all. We've just always kind of known each other." 

"Mhm." Jackie was focusing on the frosting knife in his hands. "So how long have you been together?"

Ash felt a small blush come over his face. "Hasn't Michael told you this by now?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't mean to be rude, but..."

"Nah. The same day I found out you existed was the same day I stopped asking questions about you... I just saw how upset you not being here made him." Jackie was quieter than usual, though his voice could still easily drown out Ash's. "So... how long were you two together before everything happened?"

"Close to three years." Ash rubbed his arm. "We were getting close to our anniversary when... well... you know." 

"Mhm." Jackie placed the cupcake back on the cooling rack and picked up the other one. "You don't have to answer this, but, uh, did Michael confess to you with a rose petal?" 

Ash took a small step back. How did he know? 

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, he did. It was a pink rose petal from the apartment upstairs... well I guess it's on this floor." He rubbed his arm. "Why? Did he-"

"He gave me a red rose petal from the apartment down the hall." Jackie smirked slightly. "It just looked like it wasn't the first time he'd busted out the flowers to ask if someone wanted to be his boyfriend. I was a little curious." 

"How did that go, by the way?" Ash continued his slow strides towards the frosting bowl. "He was a flustered wreck by the time he was able to get the two of us alone to tell me."

"He had psyched himself out like you would wouldn't believe." Jackie admitted with a tiny smile. "He was just this shaky mess. 'Course I didn't help the situation much by just staring at him with a dumb look on my face for like a minute after he asked me."

"Michael does get in his own head a lot." Ash nodded and he finally was beside he frosting bowl. 

"Yeah... but he is super cute though." 

"Yeah, he is super cute." Ash pulled himself up to look into the frosting bowl. Full of a sticky-sweet looking light blue glob. "You cook a lot?"

"Yeah, I like to cook." Jackie shrugged. "Started to learn to cook because my big sis was kinda hopeless in the kitchen and she didn't want to go to classes alone, so I got roped in and I actually really enjoyed it. But then I got started baking at it because I wanted to make a good impression with my cousin and his friends." 

"You've got family?"

"Yeah, though it's just me and my sis at home, well, her fiancee moved in a year or so ago. She makes her happy though, so I'm not upset or anything." He shrugged. "My cousin's super cool though, and his friends kinda adopted me into the friend circle as the responsible one... really became a crucial member of the friend group once I got my license." He shook his head good naturedly as he finished with the cupcake.

Ash stuck his hand quickly into the bowl, taking a glop of the frosting before hopping back. 

"Couldn't resist a taste, hm?" Jackie raised an eyebrow. 

"Just wanted to see what the big fuss was about, I've had a bit of the cupcakes, they were fine as is." He tasted the frosting he had on his hand. It was super sweet, but also just really _good._

Jackie was watching at him expectantly. 

"Okay, okay, it's good." Ash glanced away. 

"Told you. Cupcakes aren't complete without frosting, even though I myself am more partial to the cake itself." Jackie reached down and softly ruffled Ash's hair. "I'm not like those snooty bakeries that have three quarters of their thing as frosting. Just a nice layer on top to keep the whole thing moist."

Ash blushed deeply and slowly sat down on the counter to watch Jackie. He had his head on his knees, which were pulled up to his chest. He knew the power in those hands, and he'd expected that touch to wrench his neck, but there was nothing. Just enough force to mess up his hair. 

Ash was starting to see what Michael meant when he said Jackie was gentle.

They continued to talk for a while, and Jackie soon was finished with the cupcakes. Ash had chosen his sprinkles of choice and was trying to figure out how he was going to properly get them on.

"Here, so you can get an overhead view." Jackie set his hand, palm up, beside Ash. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. It's just a suggestion."

Ash stared for a long second at Jackie's hand. He hadn't been grabbed since they'd met all those days ago, and Jackie seemed to be very respectful of Ash's personal boundaries. 

He steeled his nerves and hopped up onto his hand, pulling the jar of sprinkles he'd chosen up with him. "C'mon, they won't decorate themselves." 

Ash found himself to actually be enjoying hanging out with Jackie. Jackie had been so gentle holding Ash, and he never grabbed at all. It was actually quite nice. 

Ash was maybe starting to see the appeal of laying around in Jackie's hands.


	23. A Late Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash has a long night after Jackie stirs up some thoughts in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings/Contains: Food, brief shirtlessness, pining(?)

It was well into the evening as Ash shuffled home, unable to stop blushing. He had a hunk of one of the cupcakes in his brand new bag, and it felt so incredibly heavy. 

"Michael, I'm home." Ash called out as he shut the door behind him. "Where are you?"

"Workshop."

A small sigh escaped Ash as he placed the hunk of cupcake on the shred of paper protecting the table, He briefly brushed some imagined dirt off the flap as he hung up his bag. When Ash sauntered into the workshop, he found Michael working on the design on the outside of the ring. "How did I know I'd find you in here, doing that?"

"I'm trying to make sure all the little details are proper." Michael huffed, not turning away from the wooden ring in front of him. "It's a gift, after all."

"I don't think he can see all these details with his eyes, but I won't stop you." He wrapped his arms around Michael, who leaned slightly against him. 

"How did it go up there?" Michael placed his tools down on the bench.

"It was nice." He glanced away as the blush returned. 

Michael glanced up at him, smirking at the red across Ash's face. "What he'd do to fluster you?" 

"He..." Ash paused to take a small breath. "Jackie touched my hair. You know how I get about my hair.” He pressed his lips into Michael’s hair. “He didn't grab either, so that was good. He was interested in my life and in me and he... he was... he was so sweet." Ash sighed deeply. "I'm starting to see what you see in him. A human friend is actually kind of nice."

A knowing smile pushed the smirk off Michael's lips. "That knowledge of restraint?"

Ash nodded, then pulled a wood shaving out of Michael's brown hair. 

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Michael stood up from his workshop stool, stretching. "Knowing that you don't have to be scared of that strength?"

"Yeah. It's... it's a little scary." Ash rubbed his arm. “But it's a good scary.”

"Yeah. You should see him shirtless. Those muscles. Mmm." The floor creaked above their heads. Jackie must be going to bed. "So, did you bring anything back?"

"I got a bit of cupcake." Ash held out a hand softly towards Michael, grinning. 

Michael pulled Ash in close and planted a kiss briefly on Ash's cheek. "I love cupcakes."

\----

Ash was getting ready for bed, washing his face and neck with a bit of water and a rag. Michael was already in bed, snuggled into the multitude of covers. Jackie had gone to bed, the apartment had fallen quiet. Well, as quiet as it could be with the electricity and air conditioning on. Ash decided to forgo a shirt tonight as he settled in the bed beside Michael. “Night, love.” He pressed a kiss to the smaller man’s temple and pulled the covers up to his chin. 

Sleep didn’t want to come to Ash. Time ticked by, but Ash lay in bed, shifting periodically. The physical conditions were perfect for sleep, but his mind was too busy racing.

It sounded stupid to voice, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about Jackie. They’d talked a while, and Michael had such a point about the enormous human. He genuinely cared about the two of them, and it made Ash feel… well… stupid about being afraid of him. 

Stupid didn’t feel like the right word either. He didn’t feel dumb for being afraid of Jackie, because he had every right to be. Their first meeting had gone terribly, and Ash had a whole life of horrible stories and cautionary tales to instill a fear of humanity. Ash felt emotions tangled up in his chest the more he thought on it.

“Maybe a good climb would help.” Ash slipped out of bed quietly and started to get ready, careful to not wake up Michael. 

Thoughts continued to plague Ash as he moved through the walls, no real destination in mind. He came out onto the bookshelf in the living room. With a soft sigh, Ash sat on the edge of the bookshelf and allowed himself to just sit and watch the darkened apartment. 

The dishes from earlier in the evening sat in the sink, filled with water to stop the frosting left in the bowl from hardening so Jackie wouldn’t be needing to scrub it so much later. The container that Jackie left food in for the pair sat up against the hole in the backsplash, untouched since the morning.

Ash let his eyes wander from the kitchen to the rest of the living room. There were personal items scattered about the table, most belonging to Jackie, but Ash caught the half built climbing hook and rope sitting on a designated little bowl. The couch sat proudly near the television and Ash could see a memory of Jackie sprawled across it, Michael laying on top of him, in his mind's eye. 

All of the conflicting feelings came right back to Ash, and the young man looked away. Why did he feel so strange about seeing Jackie and Ash together?

It wasn’t jealousy, he was sure. Jealousy always felt much different than this. His face felt warm, and his heart would flutter about like a bird in a cage. 

“What is your problem?” He whispered to himself. 

Maybe he was coming down with something. He’d bring it up the next time he went home. It had been a little while since he had gone home. He was just really excited to be with Michael again. 

And Jackie wasn’t so bad either. 

Was it bad of him to be enjoying the company of a human? 

He felt like it was.


	24. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** Michael and Boyfriends chill watching some Disney on a Friday night. Some things might be discovered about themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Short person is sensitive over their height trope, but that is about it.

Jackie had a rare break from everything on a Friday. A good opportunity for him to be able to spend time with his loved ones, even though those loved ones were smaller than his fingers. Even if one of them was a little sore over the fact he’d finally gotten an accurate measurement on his height. 

“Three point two five?!” Michael whined as he looked at the ruler in Jackie’s hands. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Mike, please.” Jackie sighed softly, sending a warm gust of air over the counter. “It’s just a number.”

Ash chuckled softly and Michael glared at Ash. “You’ve got to be kidding! I’m a half inch smaller than him?”

“A little under a half inch, yes.” Jackie carefully reached down and scooped Michael up in one hand. "Don't be so dramatic, Michael. I like little guys. You're perfect for me."

“I’m minuscule.” Michael moaned dramatically, rolling onto his back and covering his face while he sprawled in Jackie's palm. “Infinitesimal. Microscopic.”

“You aren’t any smaller than you were before I measured you.” Jackie rolled his eyes and carefully planted a kiss on Michael's chest. "Tonight we're just going to relax, watch a movie, and everyone's going to have a good time, alright?" 

"Fine." Jackie lowered his hand and Michael climbed off. Ash was trying to restrain his laughter. Michael brushed himself off. "Don't act like you enjoyed watching that."

Ash shrugged and turned away. "It was a little amusing."

"No fighting." Jackie teased them softly before going over to the microwave and catching it with a second left. "Nailed it."

While Jackie sifted the kernels out from the rest of the popcorn, Michael softly hugged Ash from behind. "Thank you for agreeing to come be out with us."

"Well, I mean, hot food is always a nice incentive." Ash softly patted his stomach, still full of dinner. "Jackie really is a good cook." 

"Yeah, and you wonder how I got fat." Michael nuzzled his shoulder. "Meals like that, often, and not having to scavenge all over the place." 

"If you see me starting to develop a belly, you better start forcing me out of the house to climb." 

Jackie turned back, the bowl against his hip. "Hop on." He extended his free hand towards the pair. 

"Thanks, Jackie." Michael softly patted his thumb as he climbed up and then settled in his palm. 

Ash was a little more careful as he stepped up, but he wasn't hesitant. He wobbled a little at the twitches in Jackie's skin before sitting down besides Michael. He stumbled on one of the palm lines, but managed to brush it off.

They were carried over to the couch, Jackie laid down on the old thing, making it creak under his weight. Jackie settled his hand on his stomach and left the bowl on the floor. Ash and Michael moved off his hand onto the shirt around them. 

"You guys good?" Jackie's voice rumbled softly around the both of them. 

"Yup." Michael gave a thumbs up. "We're good." 

Jackie placed two pieces of popcorn next to them and then started flipping through Netflix, looking for a movie he wouldn’t need to explain. 

Michael was softly patting the shirt under them, feeling the hard muscle underneath the shirt. He softly sighed and leaned against Ash. "You ever just realize that suddenly we're sitting on a web of muscle that is bigger than either of our entire bodies?" He snuggled into his side. "And that not a single bone in our entire body is as thick or as long as any of Jackie's?"

"Are you okay?" Ash raised an eyebrow. 

"I’m fine, babe." Michael sighed. "Jackie's just so big. I love him so much."

Ash nodded softly and put an arm around Michael while Jackie found the movie. 

"Mulan?" Ash raised an eyebrow as he glanced back at the human’s face. 

"Yeah, it's a classic, and I love it." Jackie shrugged as it started to play. "I think you'll like it too, now hush."

Other than a few hushed explanations about things from Jackie, the movie was uneventful. But Jackie wasn't really paying attention. He was watching the two of them for most of the movie, eyes soft and body relaxed. 

He loved watching them. The way they'd lean on each other, or their casual hand holding. It made him long to be snuggled between them. 

Jackie banished the thought as he let his eyes wander back to the screen. Mulan was scaling the pillar during the training montage. He heard Ash say something about how rope and hooks are ten times easier, but "you do you."

He was barely able to conceal his laughter, a strangled sound coming out of his mouth. The muscle under the two tiny men suddenly bounced and nearly threw them. 

Once the tremor passed, Ash looked over and softly smacked the muscle under him. Jackie couldn't feel it. 

_ God, I’m too big, aren't I?  _

He shook his head and then went back to watching the movie, cupping a hand behind their backs. They had stiffened for a moment, and then started to relax against his palm, and by the time the credits were rolling he had both of them laying across his palm, Michael half on top of Ash. 

"Sleepy?" Jackie asked as he clicked the TV off. 

"Mhm." Ash tried to squirm out from under Michael. "'S bedtime and you've been holding us all snug and warm." Michael shifted slightly as Ash managed to wiggle out from under him. He ran his fingers through his hair and glanced up at Jackie.

"You guys good to walk home?" Jackie sat up and carefully cradled his occupied hand close to his chest. 

"No." Ash sighed, softly patting Michael's hair as he tried to snuggle back up to him. "It's too far."

"It's maybe ten feet from my bed."

"Ten feet for you is like a mile for us." Ash moaned and shook his head. "Too far. Can't carry Michael all that way. Too heavy."

Jackie sighed and stood up, gently folding his fingers over them. He dropped the empty popcorn bowl off in the sink and then went into his bedroom. He glanced around, looking for anything that he could spare for a bed for the two of them. 

"Ah. Perfect." He found an old sweater and folded it carefully, then he placed his hand beside it, bridging his fingers to it. "There you go."

Ash carefully wobbled off and Jackie deposited Michael beside him. "Thanks." Ash sighed and sank into the fabric. "It feels like a cloud. Well... It's softer than our bed anyway." 

"'Our' bed?" Jackie lifted an eyebrow as he worked out a kink in his shoulder. 

"Yeah, we share a bed. We can't just turn the workshop into a bedroom. 'Sides it's warmer." Ash chuckled and then tossed his boots off to the side, setting his stuff and Michael's stuff off to the side. "What? Got a problem?"

Jackie shook his head. "Na. I just wasn't aware you moved in so quickly." He stripped his shirt off and then crawled into bed. 

"Oh my God." 

Jackie glanced over to see Ash completely red in the face. "What?"

"I just- uh, well, uhm - nevermind." Ash cleared his throat. "Goodnight, Jackie."

Jackie watched the tiny blond cover up with the sweater, curling up so he didn’t look like anything but a lump. He rolled his eyes to himself and turned the bedside table lamp off. “Goodnight, Ash. Goodnight, Michael.” He gently ran his fingertip over each Little Bit before settling down in bed. 

"'Night." A voice quieter than a whisper said with embarrassed finality.

Jackie allowed a small smirk on his face. Ash was kinda cute and all flustered like this. 


	25. Without the Usual Restraint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** Jackie went out celebrating, and now Michael and Ash have to deal with a (slightly) drunken human. Jackie seems to be the chatty kind of drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Mentions of alcohol, tipsy character, non-consentual non-sexual handling, drunken love confession

Jackie had been out late. He had told Ash and Michael that he would be gone for longer before he had left for the night. Neither Little Bit could have anticipated the way that he would return home: Drunk. 

Michael and Ash had been in their home, thinking about going to bed, and then they heard much heavier footsteps than usual enter the apartment. Michael paused, eyes glued to the ceiling. Jackie almost never walked like that. Had someone broken in?

There was a particularly loud thud before Jackie’s voice rang out. "Ash, Mikey, are you guys hoooome?" 

A relieved slump appeared in Michael’s shoulders before they went into the walls. His voice sounded really close to their home. After only a moment they came from the entrance under the bed. Michael glanced around the room and spotted Jackie sprawled out on the floor, laying on his back. He was toying with something in his hands, but Michael couldn’t see from his angle. 

He nudged Ash and they jogged over to the edge of the bed. "Jackie?" Michael called out. 

Jackie rolled over, caught a glance of them, and he instantly brightened. 

"Mikey, Ash." The object was tossed aside just before a hand shot towards them and curled around them, knocking them off their feet and against his fingers before he brought them close to his face. "I love you little guys." 

The smell of alcohol washed over them and Michael looked up. "You feeling alright, Jackie?" 

"Yeah, feel great." Micahel’s stomach was left behind as Jackie got up to his feet, smiling down at them, oblivious to the startled expressions. "Went out with a couple other guys from the team I had class with and celebrated. Had a good time, but I missed you guys. Couldn't stop thinking about you." His fingers curled in and brushed against their faces.

Jackie crawled onto his bed and carefully deposited the pair one of the pillows, propping himself up on his elbows in front of them. Ash moved closer to Michael, taking his hand, heart beating fast from the grab and handling.

Michael glanced at Ash, trying to give him a comforting look, and then looked up at Jackie. "Jackie, honey, have you been drinking?" 

"No, well, yeah, I had two small ones, but I promise I feel fine, I can think. I made sure I wasn't going to be a danger." He reached out and touched Michael's head, petting his hair for a moment before moving to pet Ash. "I love you guys, I would  _ never _ want to hurt y'all." 

A loving sigh washed over them, Jackie tilting his head to the side. Ash gently pushed the fingertip off his head and glanced up at the human. Those massive dark eyes were resting their focus on the pair on the pillow.

“Did you need something from us?” Michael spoke up after a few moments dragged out. 

“Oh, no.” He let his head droop for a moment. “I guess I just… I missed you guys so much.” His hands snaked closer and then suddenly the pair were picked up again and pressed against his cheek in a hug. Michael tried to get an arm loose, but Jackie set them back down after a moment. “I love you.”

“I love you too, big guy.” Michael flashed a smile, and then he cleared his throat. “But you can’t be grabbing on us without our permission, remember?”

His eyes widened and Jackie flinched back. “Shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Ash spoke up first, surprising Michael a little. “You remembered. You’re sorry. It’s okay.” 

Michael couldn’t help but smile at the little blond guy.

Jackie pulled his hands away and settled his head in his arms. "Can I ask y'all something?"

Michael nodded. "Sure. Ask away."

"Are you scared of me?" His voice was a little muffled by his elbow. "Like, are you scared that one day I might hurt you? On purpose or accident? 'Cause like, you're both so, so small, and I'm huge, like, ridiculously huge." 

“Jackie-”

The human turned onto his back, staring at the ceiling, stretching one leg out. "Like, look at this. It is  _ terrible _ trying to find shoes and pants that fit- 'cause I'm trim in the waist, but my legs are ridiculously long." He sighed and turned his head away. “Am I too big?”

Michael glanced back at Ash, and then he carefully slid down off the pillow and walked over to his face. “Jackie, you’re not too big, you’re human, and I love you.” Michael saw Jackie go cross eyes to keep him in sight. He placed his hands on his nose and leaned in to kiss his forehead. “Don’t beat yourself up over this.”

A smile tugged at Jackie’s lips. “Can I kiss you?” 

Michael nodded and Jackie propped himself up on one elbow, turning over to kiss Michael, pinning the Little Bit under his lips. 

“Oof.” Michael squirmed for a second, but relaxed after the moment passed where he adjusted to the pressure against his belly and chest. “A little forward tonight, aren’t you?”

“I love you.” Jackie softly nuzzled against Michael’s torso. He sighed happily before pulling back a little. 

Ash slid down onto the sheets, chewing his lip. He didn’t want to disturb, but he was also concerned with seeing Michael so close to and also underneath Jackie, who was mildly intoxicated. 

“Oh, Ash.” Jackie carefully grabbed Ash in an open hand and lifted him up close to his face. “I also wanted to say that I loved spending time with you the other day. You were so helpful and you were so sweet and kind. I love listening to you.” 

Ash squirmed uncertainly as he was brought close to Jackie’s face, and he went bright red when Jackie pressed his lips to his face. He’d been  _ kissed. _

Michael was trying to not laugh as Ash was set back down beside him. “Seems Jackie likes you.” He nudged the taller man.

“Oh shut up!” Ash shoved at Michael and then hid his face in his hands. 

Jackie softly chuckled. “I like you, Ash. Like... I like-like you.” He softly hummed before softly kissing the top of Ash’s head again. “I love blonds, and you’re such a sweet little guy.”

Ash was bright red and he stammered to himself, unable to form some words.

Jackie gave a sigh and laid his head down beside them. "I love you two, so much." He sighed. "And while I still hate those stupid traps and I still kick myself for putting them out, I'm so glad I was able to meet you, Mike, and through you I got to meet Ash." 

Michael patted Jackie's hand that laid nearby. "Hey, don't beat yourself up, nobody was hurt by your traps. It's forgiven." 

"Mmm." Jackie blinked lazily. "Did I ever tell you two how cute you are together?"

"No. I don't think you have."

“I love you guys so much. And you’re just so cute together. Like, you’ve been through so much together and you grew up together and you guys managed to stay together even after Mike was banished. I just love that about you. You’re just so sappy for each other.” He had the softest eyes while he looked over at them. “And you’re so cute, but I don’ mean that in a demeaning way. You’re just adorable and little and I respect you both so much. I don’ want to come across as, like, talking down, but you’re both so adorable together. And, jus,' the two of you have been through so much, and you still end up together. It's almost like a Hallmark film." He snickered. "That's rich, a Hallmark movie about two gay guys." 

"That would be three gay guys, excuse you." Michael softly poked the palm he was sitting in. "Don't exclude yourself in this."

"Oh, yeah, right." He blinked slowly before yawning. "Ah, jeez, it's late. I better go to sleep."

Ash nudged Michael. "Let's get going before we get crushed."

“You just don’t want to confront your feelings.”

“Shut up.”


	26. Snuggles and Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie recovers from a hangover and from the stupid confessions he said last night. He can only hope he didn’t just sabotage one of his best relationships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Mentions of alcohol, self-deprecation, embarrassment

His alarm going off woke Jackie up from his deep sleep. He reached out and snagged the offending machine from off the table nearby and tried to shut off the alarm. It took three attempts to finally shut it off. 

He pushed himself to a sit and glanced around the bedroom, phone still in hand, and then what happened the night before slapped him across the face.

“Fuck. I confessed to Ash.”

Part of him wanted to smash his phone and scream, the other part wanted to crawl back under the covers and smother himself with his pillow. Instead of doing either, he crawled out of bed to try and get his thoughts together. 

_ Okay, okay Jackson, it can’t be that bad. It’s just a little drunk love confession, I’ll just tell them I was wasted and that I wasn’t being sincere. No! Then it sounds like an insult to Ash. Think. I got to find a way to- _

He lifted his foot back from where he stepped on something with a wince. Heart pounding, he looked down. The rose from last night sat on the floor from where he threw it away once he actually saw Ash and Michael last night. With a groan, he scooped it up from the floor. It was a little crushed from where he stepped on it and it looked a little crinkly from where it had been out of water all night long. 

Jackie went into the kitchen, glaring down at the single red rose. He couldn’t believe that he had thought buying a rose and then just telling Ash that he was in love with him was a good idea. 

_ …. I MANHANDLED THEM! _

He had grabbed at them and handled them and held them without permission. He had pinned Michael down and kissed Ash multiple times without consent and  _ fuck he was screwing this whole thing up.  _

For a moment he considered just throwing the rose away and then leaving the house for a few days, but decided he shouldn’t. Avoiding this conversation was just going to make everything worse. He just needed to tell them, but he would give them a nice healthy amount of space in case they wanted to stay far away from him. 

The rose was placed in a glass of water and set on the table. Jackie wandered into the bathroom and got some medicine for the headache that wanted to make itself known. He couldn’t believe that he was so stupid to just go… tell them.

He grabbed a hoodie from his laundry basket and put it on. He faintly realized he was still wearing his jeans from last night and went to change in the bathroom. This was ridiculous. He shouldn’t have drank.

Coming out of the bathroom, Jackie went to his bedroom and grabbed his phone. He checked his notes. He had a directed writing due for English class. Before noon. 

With a groan, Jackie set up his bed desk and got to work on his laptop. He would just deal with this situation later. After homework. 

After a little while, after he had finally gotten into The Zone for school work, he felt something touch his calf. He froze in place, one hand on the laptop screen, and then stopped. He shouldn’t draw attention to them. If they wanted to talk about last night, then they would be getting his attention. Jackie slowly pulled his leg back, tucking it under his other leg. 

He was a line or two down the screen when he suddenly felt a cold little body climb onto his thigh. He couldn’t see who it was without moving the lap desk he had set up. Jackie softly cleared his throat. “Er, if you want an apology for last night, you have to come out from there. I can’t… It’s awkward to talk to you like this.”

The slight weight shifted, and then laid down, not moving. Michael would occasionally just lay on him to get some of the excess body heat. Jackie was warmer than the average human, and the little guys had trouble keeping a consistent body heat, so if they wanted to use him as a heater, then he wasn’t going to stop them. 

Especially after he was so stupid as to manhandle them like he had done last night. He deserved the silent treatment. 

“O-okay. You can chill there for a while.”

After a long second passed without any kind of response, Jackie went back to writing. He would apologize once they were ready to face him. He’d give them as much time as they needed. 

\---

“You need to talk to him.” 

“I know.” Ash rubbed his face. “I know. I should talk to him, but what do I even say?”

“How about ‘Jackie, I like you too, would you mind trying to date?’”

“That sounds so stupid.” Ash groaned into his hands. “What if he didn’t mean it? He - He was drunk! He probably didn’t even know what he was saying.” 

“He was  _ not _ that drunk.” 

Ash floundered for a response. Michael just stood there, arms crossed over his chest, watching the taller man flounder for words.

After a few moments, Michael spoke again. “Are you going to speak to him today?”

“Yes.” Ash sighed, defeated. 

“And you’re going to tell him…?”

“That I like him too and we should try to work this out.”

“Do you want me to come with you? I’ll come with you if you’re nervous.” 

“No.” Ash shook his head and then grabbed his climbing gear. “I’ll go by myself. I need to do this by myself. I should tell him, by myself.”

Michael squeezed him in a hug. “Best of luck, my love.”

With that, Ash went out to find Jackie and let him know that he liked him back. His heart was beating like a drum as he appeared underneath Jackie’s bed. He took a calming breath and then sprinted out to find where Jackie was. 

The moment that Ash left the space underneath the bed the freezing air got to him. The early winter cold snaps had sunk in through the thin walls and the draft windows. He shuddered, but pressed on. He had to find Jackie. 

A few steps out from under the bed and there was a loud creak. Ash whipped around and stumbled back. Eventually, he saw Jackie sitting on the top of his bed, a lap tray set up on his bed. He was hunched over a computer, typing away. So at least he wasn’t having to go far. 

Scaling up the sheets, Ash was mentally rehearsing his feelings, what he was going to say to the big guy once he was up there. He didn’t want to just blurt it out like a dummy, but he didn’t exactly have his speech prepared by the time he ended up on top of the covers.

Jackie didn’t notice Ash, not as the little man approached his leg. Ash gently placed his hands on Jackie’s half-exposed calf. “Ja-” He cut himself off with a squeak as Jackie pulled away from him. The human tucked his leg up under himself and didn’t look away from the screen. 

_ He just didn’t see you. It’s okay. It’s okay. He didn’t see you.  _

Ash swallowed the lump in his throat and then marched towards where the bed desk stood. He got close and had to pause, nerves getting the better of him. A cold gust of air swept past him, and Ash shuddered. It was  _ freezing  _ in here.

He glanced over to Jackie’s leg and chewed his lip in thought. Michael would also talk about how warm Jackie was, and how he was okay with being a heater. But that was before a drunken love confession made everything difficult. 

Ash bit his lip in thought and then he placed a hand against his leg, . It was very warm, and it felt very nice. 

He glanced up at Jackie. No sign that he had been noticed at all. Ash took a deep breath and then he hauled himself up onto Jackie’s thigh. 

The muscles tensed underneath Ash as he sat crouched on top of Jackie’s warm leg, hidden underneath the bed desk. His heart jumped up into his throat when Jackie spoke. “Er, if you want an apology for last night, you have to come out from there. I can’t… It’s awkward to talk to you like this.”

Ash paused, mouth open to respond. After a moment where no sound came out, Ash shifted and laid down on top of Jackie’s leg. He would talk to Jackie in just a moment. He had to warm up first. No use in confessing to someone when you were half frozen. 

“O-okay. You can chill there for a while.”

Ash had to stop himself from smiling. Now was not the time for jokes about just how ‘chill’ it was on top of a warm human. He could only take a minute, maybe two minute, break before he told Jackie how he really felt. 

\---

Jackie was pulled out of The Zone again when he heard Michael laughing. 

Glancing down, he saw Michael standing on the bed beside him, doubled over, laughing, most definitely not currently laying on his leg. Jackie’s eyes widened and he moved the bed desk. Glancing at his leg, he saw Ash slowly propping himself up to glare at Michael. “Screw off, Mike.” He made a hand gesture and then flopped back to being face down on Jackie’s leg. 

He’d fallen _ asleep?! _

Michael finally calmed down from his laughing fit and sauntered over. “Told you the big guy’s like a heated bed.” He patted Jackie’s leg, looking up at him. “How long has he been there?”

“A little while…” Jackie looked away, embarrassed even more now. “I didn’t know it was him, I thought it… was… you.” 

“Hah!” He smiled and patted his thumb again before scrambling over it. “Did he talk to you?”

“No.”

“He was seduced by the warmth then.” Michael hauled himself up onto Jackie’s leg. 

“Your cold.” Ash groaned quietly when Michael sat beside him. “Find your own warmth.” 

“Tell him how you feel first.”

Jackie was biting his lip as he watched the two of them bicker, not knowing what he was really supposed to do in this kind of situation. Ash was pushed off his leg and Jackie softly caught him in his palm. 

“Tell him how you feel, and I’ll let you back on.” Michael challenged as he got comfortable.

Ash huffed and got to his feet, brushing himself off. “Fine.” He glanced up at Jackie. “Last night, you told me you liked me. I was too embarrassed to say I also liked you back. There, I said it.” 

Jackie felt a weight leave his shoulders. He had been terrified with the thought he’d ruined things by confessing to him last night.

“Thank you for telling me, but don’t feel pressured to like me back.”

"I'm not. I genuinely like you." Ash shrugged, glancing around his palm. "You've opened my eyes about humans, and you're really attractive, and you're actually very kind... even though our first meeting was absolutely terrible."

Jackie glanced away at the reminder. 

"But I'm not afraid of you, not anymore." Ash gently rested a hand on Jackie's finger. "I like you... and I'd have a rose petal, but, uh, these feelings were very sudden and I didn't - uh, I didn't plan this out well."

Jackie softly snickered and set the rough draft of the essay aside and very carefully picked Michael up in his free hand. "So, would you two like something to eat?"

"Uh, sure." Ash flushed deeply. "That sounds wonderful."

Jackie stood and went into the kitchen, hands close to his chest. The single rose sat in the middle of the table, and Jackie froze in his tracks. He’d forgotten about the rose again. 

“Hm. I guess you thought ahead with the rose, huh?”

Jackie wanted to die on the spot.


	27. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FINSIHED BEFORE THE NEW YEAR! This is it boys, the story is over. In terms of multi-chaptered fic that I wrote solo, this is only the second one I ever finished. 
> 
> **Summary:** Weeks had gone by, and the trio had settled into a happy little life while Jackie finished up classes. There are some unexpected visitors that show up and how they have to establish the status quo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Size difference kisses, second hand embarrassment, fluff

December had rolled around, Christmas was on the horizon. Classes were super stressful with finals and everything going crazy, but Jackie always made a little time to pamper his little boyfriends. 

Boyfriends. The word just made him feel so giddy whenever he thought about it. He had boyfriend _ s. _ Two of them. Ash was so sweet, and Michael seemed to be very happy that they were all getting along. 

Jackie was currently taking a break from homework in order to relax and shift his mind from one subject to another. He was laying on the floor, jacket balled up under his chest, scrolling on his phone. He had started out in the chair at the table, but he had sunk into the floor and stayed there, scrolling through his phone. 

“Jackie.” 

At the soft voice the phone was pocketed and he looked up to see Michael and Ash scaling down from the kitchen counter. “Hey guys.”

“What are you doing on the floor?”

He shrugged and laid his head on his crossed arms. “Chillin’. School is killing me.”

Ash made it to him first, an adorable little smile on his face. “Sorry about that. Anything we can do to help?”

“A kiss could make me feel better.” A smirk crossed Jackie’s lips. 

Ash came in close and gently planted a kiss on his bottom lip. Jackie was very careful to not move, lest he knock the little man over. Ash stepped back into view. “Feeling any better?”

“Hmmm…” Jackie flicked his eyes over to Michael for a moment before shifting so he was propped up on his elbows. “Maybe another kiss.”

“Then come down here, silly.”

“I think you should come up here.” Jackie carefully scooped Ash up in a hand and brought him close to his face. 

An exasperated huff left the tiny man and he lifted his arms. “Then come closer. I can’t reach like this.”

Michael couldn’t help but grin like a dork as Jackie pinned Ash down in his palm with a kiss. He knew from experience that Jackie was always so careful with them doing that, so there was no reason to worry. He jogged over to Jackie’s empty hand and draped himself across it, letting out a very content sigh. 

While Ash was being kissed by Jackie, squirming and playfully protesting the entire time, Michael let his eyes roam over the floor. He didn’t spend much time down here anymore, much less underneath the table. The crumbs that Jackie wasn’t able to get with the vacuum were all pushed up under the legs of the table and the chairs. There was a good view of the living room and to the bedroom door from under here. 

So he was able to spot when he noticed two borrowers staring at them from underneath the edge of the sofa. 

“Uhm... Jackie?” Michael shifted a little. 

“Yes Mike?” His voice was a little muffled against Ash’s chest. 

“We’re being watched.”

“What do you mean?” He lowered the hand with Ash on it and glanced down at Michael, lifting himself up a little on his elbows. 

“Over there.” He pointed to the edge of the couch. 

Ash climbed off Jackie’s hand and stared out at the couch, taking a small step away. He suddenly gasped and took a step back. “It’s my parents. Shit. Uh, hide me.”

Jackie glanced down at Ash and then over at the couch, where the two Little Bits were approaching. “Why? I thought your parents were like… cool.”

“I’ve not told them we were together yet!” Ash crawled over Jackie’s arm and vanished underneath his chest. “Don’t let them know I’m here.”

Michael waved over at the two Little Bits. “Hey Mr. and Mrs. Johnson!” 

Jackie was trying to carefully pull Ash out from where the little man had burrowed into the jacket. “Ash, stop being ridiculous. You could get hurt.” 

“No.”

“Ash please.” 

By now the Little Bits had made it over. Jackie pushed himself over to the side so he wasn’t right over Ash. He certainly recognized the two Little Bits as Ash’s parents. A bad memory of their first meeting flashed across his mind and he tucked his hands directly under him so no needle would stick into him.

The last time that Jackie had seen them, they were staring up at him with terrified expressions and thinking he was a monster. And now they caught him kissing on Ash. 

This was going to be awkward at  _ best _ . 

“Hey Mrs. Johnson… Mr. Johnson.” Jackie cleared his throat and looked over to his jacket. Ash was untangling himself from the cloth. Michael was watching Ash, giggling quietly like an idiot. 

“Jackie.” They regarded him passively before his mother stepped up onto the abandoned jacket to pull Ash to his feet. 

“When were you going to tell us that you ended up with him?” She put her hands on her hips. “Before or after he left the apartment with you?”

“Er, Mom, I know this looks bad, but I swear I can explain.”

"Please do."

Ash floundered for a moment before starting. "So, um…. Jackie was dating Michael after he was banished. So, uhm, we had come to an agreement to share Michael, but maybe I fell for Jackie too? Now we're all dating. Yeah." 

His father approached Jackie. "Is this all true?"

"Yes sir." He cleared his throat. "Of course, sir."

"Have you been taking care of our boys?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Have they been taking care of you?" 

Jackie floundered momentarily, not even expecting that question. "Yes." He nodded. "Yes. We're all taking care of each other." 

"Good." He limped over to Ash. “We had come up here because you were supposed to come home yesterday, and you didn’t. We feared the worst since we knew you were up here.”

Jackie looked anywhere but at the Little Bits in front of him. 

“We don’t mean that against you, son.” Jackie decided to spare a glance when he heard Ash’s father speak in his direction. “We meant that the spiders could have gotten him on the way down. We were relieved to see he was safe and sound here.”

“You’re welcome.” 

His mother approached. “We don’t mind that he’s dating you, Jackie. We just wished he would have told us first.”

“I get it.” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Er, I’m going to get out from under the table before I cramp up.” 

“You do that, I need to have a little talk with my son.” She looked over at Ash, who immediately glanced down at his foot like a child being scolded. 

\---

Michael was extremely content as he lay against Jackie’s chest. Ash was resting right next to him. Thankfully Ash’s parents hadn’t ended up taking too long to lecture Ash, and Jackie had sent them back with food so there were no bad feelings between them. 

The small man was actually about to drift off when he heard Ash speak up. “Are you ever going to tell your family about us, Jackie?”

Jackie heaved a sigh that had the two little men tighten their grip on his shirt so they didn’t slide. “I don’t know. I mean… I know my sister would be supportive, but I have no clue how she'll react to you two being… small.” 

“That’s fair.” Ash snuggled closer to Michael and seized his hand. 

Michael pulled himself away from the brink of falling asleep and then glanced up at Jackie. “You mentioned having a little cousin. Think about telling him?”

“Hector?” Jackie raised an eyebrow. “He’s a pretty chill kid. I think he would be pretty cool about the whole thing… but he might definitely want to hold you guys. He took more to the Little Bits stories my sister told us when we were kids way more than I did. He like… makes miniatures and junk.”

“Seems like a cool kid.” 

Jackie nodded softly and moved his hand to be gently resting over their lower bodies. “I love you guys.”

“I love you too.” Michael grabbed one of Jackie’s fingers and moved it up so it was resting on his chest. 

“I love you.” Ash turned to snuggle into Jackie’s shirt. 

It was peaceful and content for the three of them. Rest came easy. Somehow they knew everything would work out okay in the end.


End file.
